By Richard Oses
Richard is the founder of Bubbles Fanzine @https://www.facebook.com/bubblesfanzine?fref=ts.
His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of ClaretandHugh
The news that the club has slashed season ticket prices has been greeted with mixed reactions since its release.
All in all, a lot of people will benefit from the new price structure, especially those who chose the lower bands at the OS (which from the drawings and countless reasearch I have done I think you get a decent view wherever you sit).
Even the objectionable Richard Keys has entered the debate challenging David Gold and as usual he has got things completely wrong.
The club’s cheap season tickets mean that for the first time since moving from east London to Wales I can consider being able to afford to buy one which I never dreamed would happen.
The thing is, there are some who are praising the board for their affordable football scheme and there are those who are knocking them, either because they are higher band already and the saving is smaller or because they are muscling in on Leyton Orient.
I disagree across the board with both the praise and the criticism.
Yes, as fans themselves, the Daves want to make supporting West Ham more affordable, but only to an extent. They are running a business and it is no more and no less than a master stroke in profit making.
You choose the cheaper restaurant to dine out but you will spend more overall because you’ll buy more drinks and extras. Same principle applies to West Ham’s tickets.
There isn’t anyhing wrong with that, you, the fans, are getting a better deal on your ticket prices, who cares if the club are making a profit? Good on them I say!
Then there is those who feel Leyton Orient will suffer. Well as a football fan, I can safely say that the team you support stays that way throught your entire life. Orient fans will not suddenly start going to see West Ham! They are Orient fans!
If Arsenal move to Upton Park and charge £20 a season ticket I’d still pick the Hammers, so that whole ‘Orient will suffer’ stuff is pure nonsense.
To conclude, I’m all for the OS move. It is the right move and the board have done brilliantly for both club and fans. I applaud them.
But be under no illusion, it is all for the profit and that isn’t a criticism. No one should care why or how, just enjoy the cheaper ticket prices and your new stadium!
I don’t think they bought the club to make a profit as it had a £100,000,000 debt long before the OS became reality, I actually reckon as good business men they have made a lot more money than they could of out of football and like all of us are taking an opportunity to make a dream come true, ok they have had a bit of luck with the OS but have put a lot a work into it, if they and the club profit out of it, good luck to them and the club, well deserved
Slashed season tickets?
Really
You are right that proper football fans do not change allegiances. The concern is probably about new fans choosing who to follow. As a young kid do you go for Orient or the Big Boys in the OS that all your mates follow? I think it’s a more long-term concern.
How many kids follow Orient now ?
Most children that follow smaller side do it because dad does or the live on the doorstep other wise it depends on many things,
Why do so many people follow Man U have they complained because there are probably as many of them in the O S catchment area as Orient fans,
This move is good for the fans and club and I like many think the long awaited news about seats and prices have been released to take the pressure off the board to come clean about other things like the manager situation
I can’t get my head around this, I know our rivals, competitors, even those only with a remote interest in football think our rent is too low and should be higher, fair enough.
But the details of the deal haven’t even been released yet (which surely they will have to eventually as taxpayers’ money is involved, they cannot keep it under wraps forever).
A significant flaw seems to be that people only hear about 2.5 million rent a year (index linked too which is never mentioned) and also the fact we will only be paying 15 million upfront towards the conversion.
Oh yes, people are also getting riled up because we get to keep the proceeds from the Boleyn sale and use it for paying off part of our debt presumably.
What people tend to forget is that we will give the majority of the naming rights (majorly linked to West Ham’s presence in the OS) in the first maybe ten years to the LLDC plus a share of catering income.
Let us ignore the 500 million it cost to build the stadium for the Olympics, those are sunk costs that were budgeted for already. Maybe West Ham could have offered to spend more money from the Boleyn sale on the conversion costs to cover a bigger portion upfront, but then obviously West Ham would have asked to get a bigger share of the naming rights earlier.
So from a neutral or taxpayers’ perspective West Ham should pay more money upfront towards conversion. On the other hand there can be no doubt that West Ham were well within their rights to negotiate the best possible deal or walk away from the OS.
West Ham have acted like any other club would have done, trying to get the best chance of getting the most profit out of a deal for West Ham.
It was the LLDC’s job to get the best deal for the taxpayer, but then again if they had asked for more conversion money upfront maybe Gold, Sullivan and Brady stood their ground and threatened to walk away from a deal.
Sorry for this longwinded post, but I’m trying to see both sides here.
If you add up the numbers rumoured our actual rent (including naming rights share and catering) may be around 7-10 million a season. Would that constitute a fair price?
Or shall we give some more money towards conversion upfront and get a bigger share of the naming rights earlier ?
Or are we not allowed to get a profit out of the OS at all ? If that is the case, what would be the point for us going there ?
Well done HH. But there is one further point that no one seems willing to mention.
What would the scenario have been if WHU had not taken over the OS? I believe the taxpayer would have been left with a white elephant that would have cost millions per year just to maintain with little income to pay for it. Orient as tenants??? They could not have paid the electricity cost let alone any rent! Spurs take it over??? They never really wanted it but just used it as a negotiating tool to get the best possible deal in their negotiations with Harringay Council! Athletics as sole users??? Same scenario as Orient!
Our board have done a great job for WHU – but that is their responsibility. They are not in the game to worry about Orient, Charlton, etc. this all simply amounts to petty jealousy because we have something that is out of their reach.
Further, why was all this crap not raised when Man City took over their stadium?
COYI