Old Trafford Legal Action

[Westwood52]

Did anyone hear about Old Trafford threatening legal action against RFC for offering discounted tickets to Royals fans ? Got this off a STAR rep.
Presumably now the game is over and gone, the threat has been removed.
My apologies if anyone else mentioned this.

[Y21]

Not sure how they could. As I understand, RFC subsidised the tickets so presumably the greedy cnuts at MUFC got their full wedge, just not solely from the fans.

[PieEater]

That would be really excellent press for the such a rich club

[Nameless]

Only way I could see this would be if the ticketing legislation prevents resale at anything other than face value, which I don't think it does. Even then it's hard to see why Utd would do it. They would look ridiculous (or rather more ridiculous)

[From Despair To Where?]

Whether the rumour of legal action is true or not, whatever class they may have shown on the pitch has been completely lacking off it.

If I was running Utd, this whole subsidising tickets story is one I'd like to see quietly go away.

[No Fixed Abode]

Wigan have subsidised their fans too. At least United are consistent.

[Z175]

I think its understandable from United if we didn't agree our subsidy first.

If Man Utd and Reading agreed £30 a ticket, Reading would have had far less revenue from their equal share of gate receipts.

At £45 a ticket, Reading got the increased share from 70,000 Man Utd fans charged full price, meaning that even after the subsidy for 5,000 fans, they are much better off.

So I wouldn't be surprised if Man Utd are refusing to pay over gate receipts above £30.

Otherwise if clubs start doing this - and Wigan have copied so far, it'll be a race to the bottom. The big clubs might refuse to participate in a competition where their fans are discriminated against. Logically it could FA Cup's revenue sharing model in the long run and mean the end of big pay days away to big teams.

How would we feel if we played Aldershot and they insisted on us charging £30 a ticket, which they give to their fans for free?

[From Despair To Where?]

The club have signed up to the Twenty's Plenty initiative, as have Wigan and often offer reduced prices for cup games, although this is usually to guarantee numbers through the door, so with the club subsidising the ticket prices, I don't see how Man Utd can have an issue as they're still getting their full wedge for the tickets.

[Ian Royal]

I think its understandable from United if we didn't agree our subsidy first.

If Man Utd and Reading agreed £30 a ticket, Reading would have had far less revenue from their equal share of gate receipts.

At £45 a ticket, Reading got the increased share from 70,000 Man Utd fans charged full price, meaning that even after the subsidy for 5,000 fans, they are much better off.

So I wouldn't be surprised if Man Utd are refusing to pay over gate receipts above £30.

Otherwise if clubs start doing this - and Wigan have copied so far, it'll be a race to the bottom. The big clubs might refuse to participate in a competition where their fans are discriminated against. Logically it could FA Cup's revenue sharing model in the long run and mean the end of big pay days away to big teams.

How would we feel if we played Aldershot and they insisted on us charging £30 a ticket, which they give to their fans for free?

If we insisted on £45 fair oxf*rd. If they insisted on £45 they can oxf*rd off and the analogy is incomparable because in one a team is trying to look out for its fans and in the other a club is trying to gouge it's opposition.

[RoyalBlue]

I think its understandable from United if we didn't agree our subsidy first.

If Man Utd and Reading agreed £30 a ticket, Reading would have had far less revenue from their equal share of gate receipts.

At £45 a ticket, Reading got the increased share from 70,000 Man Utd fans charged full price, meaning that even after the subsidy for 5,000 fans, they are much better off.

So I wouldn't be surprised if Man Utd are refusing to pay over gate receipts above £30.

Otherwise if clubs start doing this - and Wigan have copied so far, it'll be a race to the bottom. The big clubs might refuse to participate in a competition where their fans are discriminated against. Logically it could FA Cup's revenue sharing model in the long run and mean the end of big pay days away to big teams.

How would we feel if we played Aldershot and they insisted on us charging £30 a ticket, which they give to their fans for free?

Might be being thick here but I don't get that argument. Even with RFC subsidising the tickets the greedy ManU barstewards got their full £45 from each ticket Reading sold. Indeed had RFC not subsidised the tickets it is likely they would have sold less and therefore ManU would have made less money.

[Nameless]

I think the mistake that Z makes is to think Man Utd care in the slightest if their fans are being 'discriminated' against.

The deal allowed Man U to maximise revenue, which is all they care about.

If United wanted to look after their fans they could have lowered the prices, I really can't see that they were bullied into charging £45 by us !

[bcubed]

I think its understandable from United if we didn't agree our subsidy first.

If Man Utd and Reading agreed £30 a ticket, Reading would have had far less revenue from their equal share of gate receipts.

At £45 a ticket, Reading got the increased share from 70,000 Man Utd fans charged full price, meaning that even after the subsidy for 5,000 fans, they are much better off.

So I wouldn't be surprised if Man Utd are refusing to pay over gate receipts above £30.

Otherwise if clubs start doing this - and Wigan have copied so far, it'll be a race to the bottom. The big clubs might refuse to participate in a competition where their fans are discriminated against. Logically it could FA Cup's revenue sharing model in the long run and mean the end of big pay days away to big teams.

How would we feel if we played Aldershot and they insisted on us charging £30 a ticket, which they give to their fans for free?

Might be being thick here but I don't get that argument. Even with RFC subsidising the tickets the greedy ManU barstewards got their full £45 from each ticket Reading sold. Indeed had RFC not subsidised the tickets it is likely they would have sold less and therefore ManU would have made less money.

This ^^^^

[Z175]

Might be being thick here but I don't get that argument. Even with RFC subsidising the tickets the greedy ManU barstewards got their full £45 from each ticket Reading sold. Indeed had RFC not subsidised the tickets it is likely they would have sold less and therefore ManU would have made less money.

My point was that Man Utd don't get their full £45 from each ticket Reading sold - in the FA cup gate receipts are split 50-50. So reading get their half of the extra, from both sets of fans.

I understand the point that Man Utd are no worse off financially due to our subsidy - in fact as you say they are slightly better off if we wouldn't have sold out at the higher price.

I also get the point that Man Utd probably don't really care too much about their fans being screwed over to fund Reading. But if they can use that argument to withold £500k of gate receipts - you can bet they will pretend to! 70,000 lots of £15 adds up.

Does no one else think it is a bit cheeky of Reading to demand a cheque for half the proceeds based on 75,000 lots of £45?!

[Snowball]

Does no one else think it is a bit cheeky of Reading to demand a cheque for half the proceeds based on 75,000 lots of £45?!

If we bought xxxx AT £45 and sold them for £30, yes, of course

[muirinho]

Might be being thick here but I don't get that argument. Even with RFC subsidising the tickets the greedy ManU barstewards got their full £45 from each ticket Reading sold. Indeed had RFC not subsidised the tickets it is likely they would have sold less and therefore ManU would have made less money.

My point was that Man Utd don't get their full £45 from each ticket Reading sold - in the FA cup gate receipts are split 50-50. So reading get their half of the extra, from both sets of fans.

I understand the point that Man Utd are no worse off financially due to our subsidy - in fact as you say they are slightly better off if we wouldn't have sold out at the higher price.

I also get the point that Man Utd probably don't really care too much about their fans being screwed over to fund Reading. But if they can use that argument to withold £500k of gate receipts - you can bet they will pretend to! 70,000 lots of £15 adds up.

Does no one else think it is a bit cheeky of Reading to demand a cheque for half the proceeds based on 75,000 lots of £45?!

It's up to every club what they charge their own fans. But there's a PL agreement that away fans will not be charged more than £30 for League games.
The whole point of the £30 limit in the PL and the "twentysplenty" campaign in the Championship is that the game needs away fans - who already have the expense of travel to bear - and therefore their tickets should cost less.

So it was very scrooge-like of Man U to take advantage of the fact that this was an FA Cup match, and bump up the cost for the away fans - just because they could.
They could have priced the whole stadium at £30 if they were worried about fairness for their own fans - they certainly can afford to. The fact that Reading get 45% of the gate is neither here nor there.

The only way you could say Reading were "cheeky"l was if there had been a replay (ha ha), and they'd charged ManUre supporters more than £30. But they'd already committed to keeping the away tickets price at £30 if that happened.

[Ian Royal]

Might be being thick here but I don't get that argument. Even with RFC subsidising the tickets the greedy ManU barstewards got their full £45 from each ticket Reading sold. Indeed had RFC not subsidised the tickets it is likely they would have sold less and therefore ManU would have made less money.

My point was that Man Utd don't get their full £45 from each ticket Reading sold - in the FA cup gate receipts are split 50-50. So reading get their half of the extra, from both sets of fans.

I understand the point that Man Utd are no worse off financially due to our subsidy - in fact as you say they are slightly better off if we wouldn't have sold out at the higher price.

I also get the point that Man Utd probably don't really care too much about their fans being screwed over to fund Reading. But if they can use that argument to withold £500k of gate receipts - you can bet they will pretend to! 70,000 lots of £15 adds up.

Does no one else think it is a bit cheeky of Reading to demand a cheque for half the proceeds based on 75,000 lots of £45?!

No. Not in the slightest. That's what the tickets cost, Reading just sucked up some of that cost on a few thousand tickets.

[Lower West]

Does no one else think it is a bit cheeky of Reading to demand a cheque for half the proceeds based on 75,000 lots of £45?!

The split will be based on the full ticket price. Reading sold their full allocation and took the money. So aren't due half the proceeds in any event.

[From Despair To Where?]

My point was that Man Utd don't get their full £45 from each ticket Reading sold

Well, if that is your point then you have no point because United did get £45 for each away ticket sold because the club contributed £15 towards the value of each ticket.


It's quite simple, fan pays £30, club pays £15 which equals the magical £45 to the racketeering northern monkeys.

Nice bit of PR from the club, subsidising to the tune of £45,000, knowing they were getting in excess of £1m from their share of the total gate, but they didn't have to do it.

[AthleticoSpizz]

how many tickets did we sell?

£15 x that figure.......pretty decent gesture from a club in so much debt

Well done Reading

[Elm Park Kid]

I think its understandable from United if we didn't agree our subsidy first.

If Man Utd and Reading agreed £30 a ticket, Reading would have had far less revenue from their equal share of gate receipts.

At £45 a ticket, Reading got the increased share from 70,000 Man Utd fans charged full price, meaning that even after the subsidy for 5,000 fans, they are much better off.

So I wouldn't be surprised if Man Utd are refusing to pay over gate receipts above £30.

Otherwise if clubs start doing this - and Wigan have copied so far, it'll be a race to the bottom. The big clubs might refuse to participate in a competition where their fans are discriminated against. Logically it could FA Cup's revenue sharing model in the long run and mean the end of big pay days away to big teams.

How would we feel if we played Aldershot and they insisted on us charging £30 a ticket, which they give to their fans for free?

What's wrong with a race to the bottom? The number one priority for football authorities should be the cost of the game to normal fans, not the 'pay day' that clubs get.