Manchester United suffer drop in season ticket sales
English Premier League club Manchester United has not been able to reach the target the club had set for the ticket sales this summer. The club’s Chief Executive, David Gill said that they expected a much bigger sale than what they got.
However David Gill reassured everyone that considering the financial condition of the country, these are very good numbers and the club is in a very good state financially.
Gill, said that number of season tickets sold during the off season were 51,800, and the expected target was 54,000. He added that the sale of executive seats is still on track and will bring in good money.
The big fear about the drop in sales came because a fan group called Manchester United
Supporters Trust, ‘MUST’, have been saying that tickets should be boycotted in order to convince the club owners Glazers to leave.
David Gill, when faced by media, showed positive stance and said that, the target has been missed but not by much, the target was 54,000 and we got 51,800 so it is not such a big difference. He said considering how the protests and movements have been going on this is a great number and to add to that the executive seats are going to bring in good revenues. He added that the number of tickets already sold is way more than the capacity of most Premier League clubs. Gill went on to say that the club is by no means in any sort of financial trouble and is in fact in a very stable financial shape. He said that if compared, the club has outsold clubs like West Ham and Newcastle, but still they are working hard to make sure that the stadium is filled on match-days. He went on to say that the brand of football that Manchester United play will bring in fans automatically and that is by no means a cause of concern for the club.
The fans however continued to protest against the club owners, ‘The Glazer Family’. The total debts against the club now stand at 700 million pounds. This also includes 500 million pounds from the bond scheme and further 202 million pounds that were paid to the club in shape of loans.
Gill refused to comment when asked about the Panorama report by BBC that claimed that Glazers shopping mall business was facing serious problems. He said that the results off the pitch for the club have been fantastic till July 2010 and Manchester United is making good money.
Gill said that the financial structure has been put in place and it is being serviced on a regular basis. Hence, there are no problems as far as the finances of the club are concerned.
On the other hand the Chief Executive of Manchester United supporters Trust, Duncan Drasdo , said that the fall in ticket sales is a cause of concern under the Glazers Ownership. He said that while United have been able to achieve their target others have managed to do so. He said that this is a tipping point as far as the Glazer ownership is concerned; they have been raising ticket prices every season but loyal fans have continued to buy them. However, now it is a cause of serious concern and some action needs to be taken.
Duncan said that thousands of unsold tickets for the season, and available hospitality boxes are a clear evidence that some serious measures need to be taken to protect the club.
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