Legacy Fans
- Thread starter rob_fmttm
- Start date
Norman_Conquest
Well-known member
It is funny, I said that when football re-started after the first lockdown and got shot down in flames.
Colgates_shaving_foam
Well-known member
I strongly disagree with this. Fans who go to games are more valuable that fans who only but the shirts and watch on TV.
The long term sustainability of the clubs is still anchored to fans attending matches.
Media deals will come and go.
I could see the value in moving the Trafford reds to Shanghai and building a 200k capacity stadium, that might be the long term plan but certainly not something I would ever want to watch.
atypical_boro
Well-known member
Possibly is yeah, but I've never subscribed to the idea that a season ticket holder who goes to all away games' and makes the club an enormous part of their life has no more valid an opinion than a fan who goes once every two years on a corporate freebie and the rest of the time listens to the radio. We're all fans but some fans are 'better' than others, and for a lot of people its a changing picture throughout their life. The clubs better hope that these permanent armchair fans in China are going to care enough to subscribe to watch matches with no atmosphere long term.
1finny
Well-known member
The ESL clubs appear to disagree with you
The proposed model appears to be Man U (for instance) have their own subscription package for ESL games. 150m fans worldwide - you only have to charge them £1 per game and it dwarves what fans pitching up at a stadium can contribute.
go-nads!
Well-known member
It’s just so bad for the game as a whole. Even if the “legacy” fans disown their clubs, the owners won’t care - it will just speed up the process of the clubs travelling to other markets to play games. A Japanese fan watching “their team” once a season in Tokyo will probably be more enthusiastic and pay a lot more than a traditional season ticket holder. The spectacle for the TV audience can be massively improved.
You can only fit a finite number of fans into a ground, the money beaming matches around the globe dwarfs ticket income. Especially if each team is able to offer their own subscription.
The proposals are an absolute catastrophe to the game as a whole. It must be stopped.
Even if the ESL has a shelf life, these owners will have made their £££ at the expense of football as millions of fans currently know and love it.
You can only fit a finite number of fans into a ground, the money beaming matches around the globe dwarfs ticket income. Especially if each team is able to offer their own subscription.
The proposals are an absolute catastrophe to the game as a whole. It must be stopped.
Even if the ESL has a shelf life, these owners will have made their £££ at the expense of football as millions of fans currently know and love it.
atypical_boro
Well-known member
ESL has potential to generate large profits but only if players are willing to sacrifice international caps etc. I've no doubt some will, but some might not.
Stadiums will be either not full or devoid of the atmosphere the PL has built its reputation on, with the lack of away fans. Again, may or may not have a big impact on profits.
The risk for the 'rich 6' is these international fans sticking around forever. You'd assume fans living in Manchester would be a safer bet than fans living in Shanghai but who knows.
I'm happy to let them crack on anyway, and leave the proper football to the fans who go to games etc (even if its once a season). Just hope the FA and UEFA follow through on their threats.
festa5
Well-known member
Football clubs in this country (and I'm sure most others) have always been big parts of the local community and part of their town's/city's identities. Even behemoth's like Man City.
People are entitled to follow whoever they like of course. But for me they'll rarely have the same connection to a club that fans from, or with close ties to the area that club is based, do.
Currently the owners of these clubs are ******* all over that. They simply do not give a toss and the local (or legacy) fans of those clubs are rightly concerned about where this might ultimately lead.
People are entitled to follow whoever they like of course. But for me they'll rarely have the same connection to a club that fans from, or with close ties to the area that club is based, do.
Currently the owners of these clubs are ******* all over that. They simply do not give a toss and the local (or legacy) fans of those clubs are rightly concerned about where this might ultimately lead.
go-nads!
Well-known member
What irks the most is that this was a working class pass time, clubs were formed by the working class, watched by the working class and the players were working class.
Colgates_shaving_foam
Well-known member
I've no doubt they will coin it in short term but can they count on all these overseas fans sticking round once the atmosphere and competition is stripped out of the game?
Big gamble I would say
Frozen Horse
Well-known member
In addition to what this does to domestic leagues in Europe, I hate what this does to leagues on other continents.
I'm more interested in developing leagues like Australia, USA , Japan and Korea than I am in La Liga, but I hate the fact that these European clubs are already much bigger in those countries than any of the domestic clubs.