Aston Villa avoid major financial hit after Champions League controversy at Villa Park
Aston Villa have avoided a major financial hit after the recent Champions League controversy at Villa Park, according to football finance expert Dan Plumley.
Questions have been asked of Villa chief Chris Heck after some supporters were able to secure tickets for the Champions League clash with Bologna at Villa Park for just £30 on third-party re-sale sites [Dan Bardell, 22 October]
Tickets for the European competition at Villa Park this term have cost supporters upwards of £70 and Plumley admits the controversy could create a fan management problem behind the scenes at Villa.
“They’ll be mindful of it,” Plumley exclusively told Villa News.
“If you look at some of the wider numbers, it doesn’t hurt them too much as they have the prize money for competing in the competition, then you have the TV money which we haven’t even factored in and then you have the prize money for winning and picking up points.
“So actually, the matchday income is probably the lowest of all of those things with all things taken into consideration.
“Notwithstanding that, you still want to generate as much as you can in these additional matchdays and we’ve seen how that’s played out with the ticket prices.
How much have Aston Villa earned from the Champions League at Villa Park?
“I guess for Villa, you don’t want people to be too put off by that so it becomes either they don’t start attending or you get this sort of practice happening.
“So they will be mindful of it, but if you look at the matchday income as a proportion of Champions League revenue it’s still quite small, so it doesn’t hurt the overall financial position too much.
“It is a bit more of a worry internally that the fans are looking to these other ticket sites potentially because they’re perceiving that the fees from the club are too high.
“That’s a bit of a fan management and relationship piece that you’ve got to control.”
The Champions League has already proven to be a bit of a cash cow for Villa this season, with Plumley exclusively telling Villa News the opening three matches have earned Unai Emery’s side upwards of £20million.
But the pricing structure of tickets not only runs the risk of upsetting fans but has also restricted the Villans windfall ever so slightly. Something has to be done to address the issue sooner rather than later.
In other Aston Villa news, Jhon Duran could have a new problem with a teammate at Villa Park after a recent incident
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