(09-19-2019, 08:46 PM)cornishbaggie Wrote: This is where the debate of increasing ground capacity will always fall down, more and more fans are just happy to watch it on t v and the ability to do that is not going to subside any time soon.
There'll always be people willing to pay the premium ( a premium, not gouge them) to see it live. After all, it is better. You never know, some of those armchair fans may convert into stadium fans, rather than the other way round. I've heard that the Arsenal ground is full of overseas tourists who want to see a game live because they've seen them on TV.
I think it's more likely that more and more fans are just happy to watch it on tv for nothing, rather than pay the price they are charging at the ground. There must be a happy medium. At the moment there isn't.
For me, one of the joys of supporting West Brom is that you get to see the team develop as the season goes on - you see the struggle and the transformation. This is all missing if you just see the occasional games that are available on TV.
As it stands, the occasional football fan can see practically all of Man City's games complete with sycophantic commentators telling you how great the 'product' is, yet hardly any of say, Walsall's games. You can read long stories eulogising Starling in the nationals and watch cinematic films about Liverpool or you can read 50 words of badly written prose in the E&S about Walsall. Which are you most likely to buy into? Which would be more interesting and ultimately more accessible?
If it carries on, how long before Man C tops outnumber Walsall tops in Walsall town centre? How long before you stop seeing West Brom tops in the Midlands?
You can't just force people to pay for an overpriced product by restricting the supply. It never works in the long term. They either get it illegally or they drift away to something 'similar'. Like Liverpool...or god forbid Aston Villa.
Let people see the games at home if they want, but let them see the whole season saga. Of course, charge them, but make it reasonable.