It is often athletes who come out with statements that are hard to comprehend, but it seems as if the disease is spreading to administrators.
At the weekend the West Australian carried a story which was carried by other media outlets praising Perth Glory for capping its membership to ensure that 1500 tickets remain available on general sale to the public while their home ground NIB Stadium is being redeveloped. It would appear that those who praised such a move know little about business or actually thought this move through.
Perth Glory owner Tony Sage repeatedly bleats about how much money he loses owning the license of the A League club, and this is what makes such a move hard to comprehend.
NIB Stadium this year has a maximum capacity of 10,000. A fact that Mr Sage has publicaly stated he wants compensation for claiming it is restricting his ability to make money, limiting the number of fans who can gain entry.
Surely if you are concerned about the money that you are going to make, and you are trying to build a case for compensation you would want to make sure that the ground was full every week? Stating you have had to turn fans away will add gravitas to your argument.
Capping your membership and then not having a full house simply does not make sense. Surely it would be more beneficial to simply make fans aware that without membership they may not be able to get a ticket to enter the ground. Therefore you will increase memberships and almost certainly have the team playing to a virtually full house every week.
It sounds far better and is no doubt financially far better to be able to say that the game was a sell out.
It is a bizarre move when one considers that since the start of the Hyundai A league Perth Glory’s highest average crowd for a season is 9734, and that was in the first season of the league. Even last season when they made the finals for only the second time, and hosted two home finals they still only averaged a crowd of 8322, lower than the previous season. In fact over every season of the A League the average crowd is 8424, so when one considers the historical facts and the need for income, this move seems a very strange one, and one that simply does not add up to good business
Read that in the West and thought exactly the same. Are they stupid down there at Perth Glory? Have a full stadium each week and turn people away and you may get compensation, play in a stadium not at capacity and do you deserve any?
They should not get compensation anyway. If they do then the rent should be higher so that the government can recoup that money over a 5 year period. OR to compensate the rent should be lower for five years.
Not happy if a private business gets a hand out from the government when ultimately that private business will have the chance to make more money when the work is done.
Begining to question if Tony Sage really is a good businessman, or just a used car salesman in disguise as an entrepreneur.