Tuesday Thoughts. Or KA-CHING!

Apologies this has appeared slightly later than usual...have been out earning myself some extra money in order to put by for next season's first game ticket. Although a decision on the mortgage it looks like I'll need in the near future for them will take a while...

I warned that this post was going to be quite long...and be warned now-if you don't like opinions which may be slightly controversial to some, or are involved in running a UK hockey club and have a sensitive disposition, you may not like what you're about to read. I've been mulling this issue over for a while, but this post was finally sparked into life by two things-one, a email asking why I had "stopped being controversial" (I never thought I had, as anyone who's seen Omar Ennaffati play (apart from me) may testify, but hey ho...:)) and two....

Disclaimer: I apologise for making this post very-Blaze centric, but if you remove the "Blaze" name, it could easily be your club this off-season. Furthermore, this is not a personal attack at any person, nor are the statements anything other than my own opinion. All figures (with the exception of this and next season's Blaze ticket prices, are approximate.

"2 minutes for a vicious slash to fan's wallets": So, the Blaze are the first club to announce next season's ticket prices, apart from Newcastle who are already offering theirs on sale. For comparison, the (adult) price for my first game of hockey, in the BNL, versus the late-lamented (BNL version) of the Paisley Pirates, was £8.50 in 2000, and a season ticket was seemingly unreachable luxury for me at £200 or so.

In 2004/05 that same ticket was £12.50 or £280. After the treble year, the expected price hike never really materialised-50p or so on a matchnight, £25 quid (ish) on a season ticket. Not bad, considering inflation and all-especially as a huge thing had been made of how the team were sustaining themselves perfectly well and thus the price stayed stable...in fact, it even stayed the same the year after thanks to a mediocre season (by Blaze standard)-and almost offset the grumbling about the chopping of NUS discount due to "operational reasons and abuse". Almost. This season, it went up to £13 and £300. Not bad...

Now, comes the hammer blow that has been inevitable since the team became successful. To watch a Blaze game next season, you'll shell out £15 a game, or £335 for a season ticket.

Erm...what?!

That means, if the Blaze PR of "needing to stay competitive" as a reason for the raises is to be believed, that expenses have risen, in one season, by two pounds per 1500 paying customers (3000) plus 35x500 season ticket holders (1675)=4675 pounds per week. Or nearly 20 percent.

And I'm sorry, but that is, and I apologise for the one instance of swearing you'll ever see in this blog, bullshit.

On the surface 35 quid for a eason ticket (or 50 quid if you pay after May) doesn't seem like much more, particularly when you bear in mind the improvement that this ticket will actually cover all the league home games. Hwever, miss two league games (30 quid) due to other commitments, and that saving all but goes down the toilet.

OK, so student tickets return. But that essentially means that some will be paying the same price as they did this year. So bye bye saving.

Then consider where these expenses will rise.

Wages? Nope. Wage cap tightening means that the cap goes up by 300 quid a week. Or, 50 quid per player. So, 500 season tickets, and that's wiped out.

Rent? Maybe. But given that the Blaze are not likely to be paying anywhere near as much to rent the Skydome as the arena teams (who will no doubt have similar prices) do, you can offset that.

Merchandise? Come on. What do you think profit margins are for? If you really believe that that horn (tube with a Blaze sticker) cost that much to make, then I've got a bridge to sell you might be interested in.

Staff wages? Given that the majority of matchnight staff are unpaid and most hockey teams double up when it comes to off-ice personnel roles the numbers ain't high in terms of people to pay. But they're getting a 15% rise in pay this season, with the recession looming? You believe that? Cause I don't. If they are, then we're all in the wrong jobs...

Interestingly, through a friend I was able to see a (very basic) summary of the Blaze's accounts for the year 2005 and also the year 2006-the company made a fairly hefty loss. If you look at the tickets for Blaze games, the name of the company presenting the team is different to two seasons ago (Coventry Blaze Ltd as opposed to Ice Cold Promotions). That tells me one company has been wound up and another created to run the team...and you don't close a successful company.

Draw your own conclusions.

I apologise for making this post very-Blaze centric, but if you remove the "Blaze" name, it could easily be your club hiking the prices-and you have to wonder just how far they'll go, particularly with a recession looming, before even the diehard hockey fans start spending their money elsewhere, particularly if the results on the ice aren't as good as expected. Has hockey pricing in this country eached its peak for a while now-and just how would you react if your team bring in a similar price price hike this season?

I guess the simple question is What's your love of hockey worth to you?

I shall be following on from this tomorrow as well as reviewing the BKO final-apologies for the lack of One Minute Preview, but this issue has dominated my hockey-related thoughts, and I simply thought it needed treating in depth...

Keep keeping your eye on the puck...