But, as many have said before, the spanking of the "casual" fan with walk up prices 50% above ST ones .....in a deprived area in the middle of a cost of living crisis......can't get my head around it. Add in the price for kids (cheapest for adult and child to attend is £49) it's not going to hook the young fans if they get to go to the Riverside 2-3 times a season if they are lucky.
This is the problem - spot on - as I have highlighted all the way through my posts.
Gibson is a rich bloke. He can afford for Boro to spend more than they earn and cover the costs himself. The people of Teesside don't get the luxury of making the choice. If they want to see their team then many of them just can't because the prices are too high.
I would say yes. It is 100% fair that Gibson spends more of his money to cover our losses because it is him that is making the decisions to spend that money.
If he doesn't want to spend that money then he should adjust the spending to something more sustainable. All this "competitive" spending and wage bill has achieved is less than other teams with smaller wage bills have achieved. Our wage bill was double that of the other 3 playoff teams. It's not like all this excessive spending is getting us anywhere.
He is not as rich as the owners of many of the Championship clubs.
I'm glad Gibson is willing to authorise the spend and give us a bigger chance of promotion - and then cover the loss if it fails. We are lucky he does.
He has made huge mistakes with appointments, signings and contracts, but rest assured HE has paid for them, not you.
The money our fans pay into the club for tickets would not even nearly cover the lowest wage bill in the league.
We are paying Mercedes prices for a Ford.
We've been taking this approach for 15 years and succeeded once, so bigger budget doesn't guarentee success. Look at Luton. We either cut our cloth accordingly and cut our expenses or the men at the top decide to take a bit of a chance in a bid for promotion, at their expense. We've had sub-standard players on high wages every season for years and the fans have overpaid for Championship football however the inflated prices now are worse than ever.
This is a joke right?
9,447 Adult SC holders paying an average of £491.16 across all stands, or £21.35 per match, many of whom get a Free Drink included.
3,030 Under 18's paying an average of £172.85 across all stands exc Family Zone, or £7.51 per match.
2,101 Under 18's in GRFZ paying an average of £39.86, or £1.73 per match.
2,849 OAP's paying an average £344.89 across all stands, or £14.99 per match.
1,016 18-21's paying an average £273.83, or £11.91 per match.
618 carers paying nothing at all.
These are the facts.
Who exactly in the SC base is paying too much, or paying for a Mercedes?
The people getting ripped off are Walk ups and their Concessions, not the 19k SC holders last season.