2. Your Consumerism
According to the BBC, the cheapest Arsenal season ticket
still costs £985. Bear in mind that that includes 19 Premier League games and only 7 cup ties and that works out at £38 a game. Not bad in context but if you want to watch any Champions League knock out games you have to fork out extra and a lot of the games you get for free are against Norwich and opponents of an even weaker pedigree. A replica Chelsea shirt that will be obsolete in 8 months costs £47 (whether small or triple XL, I smell a conspiracy). Sky Sports, if you already have the pleasure of owning a Sky box, costs £22 a month and continues to rise. The modern football fan, however, does not feel aggrieved by this. He bought the season ticket and the shirt. He read about the new TV money and instead of expecting (or demanding) reductions in ticket prices he hoped that the money would be spent on new players. The numbers seem to show that has happened. But what about clubs that didn't buy? Manchester United bought Marouane Fellaini and spent a few pennies elsewhere but haven't done anything to support fans. Yes, according to a quick internet search, the season ticket prices have been frozen for the past two years, but in the midst of a recession and this huge increase in income surely fans must feel betrayed? Apparently not since they sold out. The modern football fan continues to blindly spend their money at every opportunity, seemingly buying into the marketing; if you pay, you're closer to the experience. The experience is everything here, the modern football fan wants to be close to the game and, most importantly, know everything...