Owning a football club is an expensive business and as many who have done so have said a surefire way to lose money.
Many believe that success on the pitch automatically leads to success off the pitch, in the commercial sphere, but that is not always true. The reason being that success brings with it expectations.
Perth Glory several seasons ago upset their playing and support staff when they announced that partners had to pay half the ticket price for the Most Glorious Player Awards. Credit should be given to the club though that they re-instated the awards after one season when it was shelved, robbing the player winning the accolade of his moment in the spotlight.
This year the club has been caught by the ridiculous price of hosting a function at any of the five star establishments in Perth.
Many around the city have lost their jobs, some are worried about theirs, and as a result people are being extremely cautious when it comes to spending money on non-essentials.
At most of the five star hotels you are looking at a food and drinks package that is going to cost $100 per head. If you are to subsidise the playing and support staff and then all of the employees in the office you have to be sure that you charge a ticket price that is going to cover the cost of those tickets and any other extra costs that may accrue, such as a DJ or a band.
This pushes the price up around the $175-200 a ticket mark; unless you want to pick up the costs as a club, which could equate to a five figure sum in the loss column.
Not surprisingly the club has shied away from Crown simply due to the cost. It is understood that the Italian club was tabled, but many felt this was a case of going from the penthouse to almost the pavement. Once again it was going to take a fairly large investment to make the room look as it should for such a night, especially if Kenny Lowe and his team manage to go all the way and win the title.
As announced the QBE Most Glorious Player awards will be held at the Novotel Langley Hotel. Yet ticket prices are still steep for some, $175 for members and $200 for non-members.
So even at a four star hotel it is hard to keep prices down. Some feel that the club is the one to blame, which is unfair. This is not a case of people involved in football trying to make a buck out of loyal fans and supporters of the game. This is a realistic fact that the cost of hosting a function such as this is extremely high. To make money the ticket prices would have to have been much higher than those being charged by the club.
Sadly for the club, many who would like to attend may well hold off purchasing tickets to see how the season ends. This will put a new pressure on the club as they will have committed to a set number of tables in order to lock in the price per head. The club was caught in this way previously and was scrambling to fill empty seats at the eleventh hour as they had already paid for them.
Is this still the way for professional clubs to end the season? Or should they keep the event in house and save themselves the stress and the cost?
It will be very interesting to see whether clubs can realistically sustain such functions in the next five years.
