Never mind the credit crunch. What time’s the match?
With the Premiership football season due to kick off tomorrow, London’s top-flight clubs appear to be immune to the ravages of the credit crunch, with some hopeful of attracting more fans than ever before.
The stars of Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham and Fulham take to the pitch in the knowledge that fans are tightening their belts in every area bar supporting their beloved team.
In North London, Arsenal’s 60,000- seater Emirates Stadium will once again be packed to the rafters, despite a lack of high-profile signings over the summer.
Arsenal have sold 42,000 season tickets and claim to have a further 40,000 people on their waiting list.
Redemptions have been negligible, the club says, despite an average 2.6 per cent cost increase.
And the Gunners’ fierce North London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, have seen a dramatic upsurge in season ticket applications, with 5,000 defying a price hike of 9.4 per cent to join a waiting list which now totals 18,000.
Just 500 Lilywhites gave up their season tickets over the summer, as fans saved their pennies in the hope of seeing new signings Luka Modric, Giovani dos Santos and David Bentley in action.
East London’s West Ham also benefited from a good campaign last season, which saw them finish above their richer cousins Spurs.
They were able to sell more season tickets on the back of that success, with 24,000 of 26,000 season tickets taken up, their second best performance, despite a 5 per cent price rise.
London’s friendly club, Fulham, has seen a 30 per cent increase in season ticket purchases on two years ago, after they narrowly escaped relegation on the final day of last season.
Season ticket holders now make up around 10-12,000 of the 26,000 capacity at Craven Cottage.
Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea haven’t fared quite so well despite a ticket price freeze for the third year running.
Chelsea have sold their 25,000 season ticket allocation, but waiting lists are minimal and the club has lowered prices for Champions League group stage games.
The Blues’ first two games of the season are sold out for ordinary priced tickets, but corporate hospitality packages remain on sale.
Paul Rawnsley, Director of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said: “Football fans are again demonstrating their commitment and loyalty to their clubs, despite the current challenging economic climate.“
Of course these days a large proportion of a football club’s revenues come from broadcast rights and in this regard the upcoming season will be another bumper one.
The current Premier League contract is at record levels and on top of this Setanta has bought rights for the FA Cup for the first time, further boosting clubs’ coffers.
Arsenal could face financial disappointment if their Highbury residential development becomes a victim of the property downturn but as far as revenues from football go, things could hardly look much better.