From Globoesporte.com.br
Worrying news from Brazil, where the first matches to be played in a renovated World Cup stadium were a failure with the paying public.
Only 33,000 fans turned out to see the double header that opened the Castelão stadium in Fortaleza. The city’s two biggest teams, Fortaleza and Ceara, played games one after another on Sunday but still only half the capacity of 64,000 people turned up.
Why were fans reluctant to see such a big event live? Could be high prices. Could be that the games are on TV. Could be that they are treated like cattle by police and security. Could be that public transport to the game is atrocious and parking is absurdly expensive.
I wrote about those issues in this Reuters piece last week and the broader fear that real fans will be priced out of the new grounds.
The story started:
(Reuters) – Upgrades to Brazil’s crumbling football stadiums ahead of the 2014 World Cup promise a safer, cleaner and altogether more pleasant environment for fans but the luxurious new grounds come at a price – quite literally.
Brazilian fans are already complaining about high ticket costs and a debate has begun over whether some supporters will be priced out of venues that boast cinemas, shops, restaurants, and even automatically flushing toilets.
“I fear that the new stadiums being built for the World Cup will make football more elite,” Tostão, a former World Cup winner with Brazil in 1970, said in a recent newspaper column.
“Different priced tickets need to be sold in order to avoid that. Those who want to be waited on can pay for it. More humble fans have a right to pay reasonable prices and get safety and comfort.”
Tostão, once again, got it right.
Brazil has to be very careful here. It doesn’t want to go the way of England, where working class fans have been priced out and football lost it soul.
3 comments
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January 30, 2013 at 8:14 am
Patrick Vollert
Brazil is developing its football to transform the sport with an aim of obtaining an elite status in South America. The overall value of Brazilian have raised and a lot of investment have been made specially now with the WC 2014.
Of course the ticket prices are going to be increasing as a consequence of this rapid growth and a desire to increase the ticketing revenue as it might be consider relatively low. The construction of big new stadiums doesn’t mean that ticket prices should be raised. The individuals that go to the stadium doesn’t represent the richest part of the population and they will avoid this high expense to go to the stadium while they can stay home and watch the game on TV.
The answer would be to have a balanced ticketing prices where all individuals will have an opportunity to buy them and make them more appealing to the fans. Its better to have lower prices and a full stadium than high prices and a empty stadium. With high stadium attendance clubs get a numerous of financial benefits and opportunities thanks to the fans.
January 30, 2013 at 8:57 am
andrewdownie
I agree completely, Patrick. There was has to be a way for clubs to benefit financially from the new stadiums without alienating the old fans. Football can’t lose it’s excitement and its atmosphere and most importantly, its soul.
February 18, 2013 at 3:28 pm
Fernando Brandão
Andrew,
What we have here in Brasil at the moment is something easily understandable: Because the country decided to host a World Cup, we started the construction or remodeling of 12 places to make 12 FIFA-standard stadiums. At the same time, we decided to ask for FIFA prices. Problem is brazilain people do not receive FIFA salaries.
For now, there is a proposition that these will be World Cup prices and prices will go down in the future. Prior experiences in Brasil ponit the other way around. We wil probably take the England way on it: make stadiums for people that can pay but usually don´t want to go there for a game.
I believe that balanced prices will come, may be in the near future. May be balanced prices will appear only after some stadium operators go bankrupt.
In my personal opinion, Arena do Grêmio (that is not part of the WC) will be the first to test the troubled waters. With no goverment intervention and located in a city where there are enough people to respond to a better ticket price strategy there is a good chance they will find a balanced ticket price. I can´t be so optimistic about Manaus and other cities where stadiums tend to become “white elephants” no matter what the ticket price is.