Wolves Ticketing Survey - Part One
‘ ‘I fear I will be priced out of attending next season, and beyond, with my 3 children, it’s the only time we get to spend as a family due to separation; I hope Wolves can help’’
Introduction
The Trust has a duty to ensure that we are providing representation to as many supporters as possible; as a not-for-profit volunteer-led organisation, we try to focus on the issues that matter the most to fans. With this survey, it was our intent to reach out across the wider fan base through direct emailing (Trust Members), and through social media awareness campaigns in order to gauge the strength of feeling on what was, at least until now, anecdotally a ‘hot button’ topic among fans. Now we have the data to back it up – Wolves fans are united in their concern about rising ticket prices and want to see a meaningful response from the club that reflects the strength of that feeling.
We accept that there will be many supporters that have not had the opportunity to participate in this survey. Nevertheless, we received over 925 responses; this compares favourably to surveys run by the club. As an example, the club-led Sustainability Survey achieved just over 1,000 responses whilst the Match Day Experience Survey run by the club at the end of the 2021/22 season received 2515 responses (Wolves have a mailing list of over 50,000).
Comparatively, this survey has real value to the trust, the club, and fan base, it provides feedback on ticket prices that the club should find hard to ignore.
We thank everyone that took the time to respond, particularly Trust members that have supported the Board throughout this process. Supporters’ trusts have an important role to play in consultation with clubs, at all levels of the game, Wolves undoubtedly needs a strong supporters’ trust, and this survey underlines the growing awareness of our role, and responsibilities.
The Trust calls for the club to enter into meaningful dialogue about the whole question of ticket pricing policy, benchmarking, and socio-economic factors.
Trust Chairman, Daniel Warren ‘’establishing the views of as many supporters as possible is the overriding goal of the Trust; this survey demonstrates that there is a real underlying concern about ticket prices and the deteriorating condition of Molineux’’.
Headlines
80.5% of respondents think that ticket prices are too high.
85.9% of respondents are unhappy with ‘year on year’ increases, including season 2023/4.
81.6% of respondents want ticket money spent on improving facilities at Molineux.
66.1% of respondents want to see major construction works at Molineux to improve facilities, and capacity.
Over 50% of respondents indicated that they would use public transport to attend matches if it were free and reliable
20.8% of respondents use the ticket resale scheme.
56.9% of respondents are comfortable with the concept of digital tickets, on mobile phones.
55.7% of respondents state that their wellbeing would be massively impacted if they could not afford to attend matches at Molineux.
85.9% of respondents believe the club should take account of socio-economic conditions when setting ticket prices.
Ticket Prices
The overwhelming feedback from supporters is that they do not want a price increase for the 2023/24 and 85.9% of respondents said they would be unhappy if the trend of increasing ticket prices ‘year-on-year’ continued for season 2023/24:
45.4% felt that ticket prices were currently too high for the facilities available at Molineux, whilst 35.1% felt the prices were too high but as expected for Premier League football.
We asked what an acceptable level of increase would be. Almost two-thirds (64.6%) said no increase at all whilst another quarter (23.1%) indicated it should be kept to a minimum (1-3%).
The Trust is clear in stating that there should be zero percent ticket increase for Premier League football next season. We want the club to adopt the ‘One Pack’ philosophy and freeze ticket prices in season 2022/23. It is philosophically incoherent to, on the one hand, fund a charitable trust which seeks to help feed the increasing number of hungry people in our city and, on the other, to continue to extract as much money as possible from devoted fans, some of whom could soon be tipped into poverty themselves in the face of the current economic circumstances.
Socio Economic Factors
There is an overwhelming feeling amongst supporters that the club should take account of the economic conditions in Wolverhampton. The Express and Star reported last year that more than one in three children are living in poverty in the Black Country[1], and that Wolverhampton has over 20,000 children now considered to be living in poverty. Meanwhile, according to the Office of National Statistics, the city is one of the 11 most deprived areas in the country. More than a third of its households (35%) are now deprived in at least one dimension. [2]
[1] https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/wolverhampton/2022/07/12/nearly-40-of-children-are-living-in-poverty-in-sandwell-walsall-and-wolverhampton-after-rise-in-last-five-years/
[2] https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/maps/choropleth/population/household-deprivation/hh-deprivation/household-is-deprived-in-one-dimension?lad=E08000031
Trust Vice Chairman, Ciaran Barker ‘’as someone living and working in the Wolverhampton area it is unavoidable to see economic deprivation. Wolves do great work through their community programme, they understand better than most that increasing ticket prices will be an influence on the wellbeing of many loyal supporters’’.
Pricing Supporters Out.
There are already many Wolves supporters that cannot afford to attend Molineux, alongside others that are forced to sell access to their season tickets just so they can continue to attend some matches. Supporting your football club is a way of life; for many, it would make a significant difference to their well-being if they were priced out of attending matches at Molineux. Molineux is a second home to many, a place where they can put aside the pressures of everyday life. Watching Wolves is our cultural identity and, for over 50% of the respondents, it is their number one leisure activity.
Concluding Remarks - The Case for Zero Increase
The overriding reason for a price freeze remains the simple fact that supporters don’t want it, can’t afford it and that the facilities at Molineux don’t justify it. Analysis of the club’s accounts for season 2021/22 puts into perspective how little it will affect the club finances, comparative to the impact on supporters.
A 5% increase on ticket prices would generate circa £670,000.00 in additional revenue - less than 1% of the clubs overall turnover.
Wolves spent circa £12m on agent’s fees alone in 21/22 – that’s almost all the club’s gate receipts slipping out of the club into the pockets of agents.
Wolves broadcast revenue is £124.8m, dwarfing gate receipts.
Wolves are the only club in the Premier League to have increased ticket prices for the last three seasons (excluding the COVID season 20/21).
Wolves spent an estimated £75m in the January transfer window, and are above Real Madrid, Barcelona, and PSG in the spending table since the beginning of the season ³. This level of spending suggests that Wolves are not ‘short’ of the odd £0.5m, that money is readily available for players and agents, fees whilst supporters are expected to pay year-on-year increases.
What we don’t see at Wolves, or other Premier League clubs, is any sign that finances are ‘so tight’, with record overall transfer spending in the last transfer window, that hard-up supporters need to foot a higher bill. What’s more, it is difficult to make the case that the extra money from increases to tickets in previous years has made any material difference to the club’s performance over the past three years. As anyone will admit, despite the regular price increases, entertainment has been in short supply at Molineux over the past three seasons. Fans in the centre of the Billy Wright stand, for example, (who incidentally faced a 17% increase in their season ticket costs for the 2020/21 season and a further 7% the next season) paid an average of £39 per goal scored last season. With more than half the season gone, that investment is looking worse still this season.
But even putting aside the question of value for money, the Trust would argue that a further increase in ticket prices would be very testing for the many ordinary fans who cheer on their club whatever the weather and force some to make some very difficult decisions. Fans have already witnessed a deterioration in atmosphere at Molineux in recent times and the Trust would suggest that a further price increase is unlikely to help in that respect.
We would welcome dialogue with the club around how a price increase can be avoided for the forthcoming season and what contribution we, as a Trust, can make in helping the club reach that decision
Survey Background Information
Wolves 1877 Trust
Wolves 1877 Trust was formed in May 2021 as a community benefit society registered under the Co-operative and Communities Benefits Societies Act 2014, regulated through the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Trust members are actively involved in the club’s Fan Focus Groups and have worked with the club to agree a Fan Engagement Standard and formation of a Fan Advisory Board.
The Trust has a membership subscription of £5.00 per annum: membership is open to all, we are a democratic body with diverse membership. It is committed to strengthening the voice for supporters in the decision-making process at the club and strengthening the links between Wolverhampton Wanderers and the community it serves.
https://www.wolves1877trust.co.uk/membership
If you want further detail or a downloadable copy of the report, please complete the form below.
Supporters Comments:
The comment below succinctly describes why increasing ticket prices is unwarranted, ‘One Pack’ is much more than words, and images:
Survey comment: ‘’I have just had my 60th birthday and my husband passed away in January. I work full time but if prices continue to rise, I’m not sure how much longer I could afford my ticket. I never go on holidays, all my ‘spare’ money gets saved throughout the year and pays toward my ticket. Wolves are my social outlet and my passion. My husband brought me to my first game in 1982 and I would be devastated to lose it now. We even moved up to Wolverhampton 3 years ago to live near our club. The current financial issues are impacting most working-class people just now and I know how important being able to attend matches is to my friends. I know I am lucky to be able to just about afford my ticket with careful budgeting, but I also know that too big a rise in ST prices this year could possibly stop me and many others from being able to attend. As so many of us have now also had to cancel subscriptions to Sky TV, BT sport etc because of cost, we wouldn’t be able to watch on TV either. I can’t imagine how that would make many Wolves supporters feel, I know I would be very sad. Having said all of that, I do understand that WWFC is also a business and must be able to function as such. Although I think a ticket price increase is highly likely and probably necessary, from a supporter’s point of view, I just hope it’s not too high. FWAW!!’’
Below is a selection from over a 150 comments submitted with the survey, we will publish all comments received on our website.
