Seven Hundred and Fifty Eighth Routine of Leeds United
Although Gao Shen has only been the owner of the club for two months, his feelings are really deep.
It is even more profound than many people's two years of experience, subverting many impressions of the past.
Or, this is the benefit of empathy.
Compared with the mess of Leeds United, coaching Manchester City is simply too comfortable.
Because in the past two seasons, he has invested a lot of effort and energy in Blue Moon, so he doesn't have to worry about other things at all now, and his assistants and team are responsible for everything.
For example, Brian Kidd is responsible for communicating with the management, Carlo is in charge of training, and Buenaventura and Pintus are in charge of summer training. Even if Fernando Lucas and Borrell are gone, there will be immediately Lucas' right-hand man, Carlos Vargas, stepped up, no problem.
But Leeds United is obviously different. There are too many and complicated things.
For example, just after Gao Shen had a high-level meeting and returned to Manchester from Leeds for two days, Fernando Lucas came to his door.
Of course, he didn't mean to, it's just that he lived in Cheshire too.
But he did encounter a problem, which was a problem left over from history.
...
Speaking of this historical issue, we have to talk about the tragic scene of Leeds on the verge of bankruptcy.
It's like a drowning person who grabs everything and wants to save himself.
Therefore, Krasner, the chairman of Leeds United at the time, proposed a plan that now seems very outrageous, which is to launch a package for the next 20 years.
Yes, you read that right, Leeds United in 2004 really sold tickets for the next 20 years, and the price was very cheap, between £3,000 and £5,500.
This price is equivalent to buying one get one free, paying the price of a ten-year season ticket to buy a twenty-year season ticket.
Tell me, how cheating is this?
When doing due diligence at that time, this area was also investigated, and Gao Shen and others knew it well, but after all, it was not a big matter, so they didn't pay much attention to it, but even small things had to be resolved.
These packages will seriously disrupt Leeds United's season ticket sales plan.
The main reason is that the sales plan at that time was too messy.
"According to our current statistics, about five or six hundred such 20-year packages were sold at that time." Lucas also said with a headache.
After taking over the team, he had a lot of things to do, and one after another, the matter of the tickets had to be delayed again and again. It was only now that he was about to launch a season ticket sales incentive plan for the new season. This problem needs to be solved.
Five or six hundred package tickets may not seem like much, but they are worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, which is another huge expense.
Gao Shen looked at Su Qing, "What do you think?"
Su Qing thought for a while, "I still have to buy it back. I can't keep it outside forever. Twenty years is too long."
At that time, Leeds United had really been cheated to the point that it could no longer be cheated. It is estimated that even the ticket revenue was mortgaged to the bank, and no bank was willing to accept it, so this kind of loss was made.
"Do we still have money?" Gao Shen asked.
"Yes." Su Qing is in charge of finances.
"Then get back the original price!" Gao Shen made a decisive decision.
This equates to the loss of season tickets for seven seasons, but it also avoids future troubles.
More importantly, the fans who were willing to spend 3,000 to 5,000 pounds to buy Leeds United season tickets for the next 20 years were basically hardcore fans. After all, Leeds United was really sold out at that time. .
Once bankrupt, whether the team can survive is a question, and season tickets are useless.
So such fans must be kept and provided for, they will be the core assets of the club.
"Understood, I will invite Eddie Gray to help." Lucas promised.
"The current season ticket sales are not ideal, how is your plan prepared?" Gao Shen asked again.
The attendance rate of Leeds United is quite good, but the season ticket sales are not very satisfactory. Speaking of it, it is also related to the team's messy ticket sales for a long time in the past.
To put it simply, the fare is messy.
Why do fans want to buy season tickets?
Many people talk about feelings, and many say support. These are all true, but the most important reason is that it is cheap.
Season tickets and loose tickets are equivalent to wholesale and retail prices.
But if the ticketing operation is not good, it is easy for the price of loose tickets to be cheaper than season tickets, which seriously hurts the feelings of season ticket fans. Gradually, people are not willing to buy season tickets.
This is terrible for the club.
why?
Originally, season ticket sales were for fans to pay the club in advance for the next season's ticket funds, which means that the club has already received a large amount of funds before the season starts, which has more room for operation.
But now, season tickets can't be sold, and everyone is waiting for the promotion price of loose tickets, which is very problematic.
If you continue to operate like this, Leeds United will definitely be doomed in terms of match day income.
But there is no way, the original management of Leeds United did not pay much attention to this area at all. They just lay down and waited for the fans to send money up, and they never thought of providing better services to ensure the long-term sound operation of the club.
In the past ten years, Leeds United's ticket prices have not increased by a penny.
This is undeniably a miracle.
Now, the management has changed a wave, but the fans still follow the old thinking and still want to wait to buy loose tickets and wait for promotions.
This has created a vicious circle. Leeds United's season ticket sales are getting worse and worse, and they have to rely on loose tickets. Fans also like to chase those discounted loose tickets, all waiting for promotions. Fans wait for promotions. The worse the ticket sales, the bigger the promotions...
As the saying goes? You don't buy it, I don't buy it, and I can drop two hundred later.
Of course, this is human nature, but it is not conducive to the operation of Leeds United and must be corrected.
"As you said before, our plan this time intends to vigorously engage local fans, so we plan to announce to the public that we will begin to limit the number of loose tickets, strictly control the price of loose tickets, and substantially rectify the sales channels of tickets."
Lucas also knows that the importance of ticket sales to a team is also very important.
"But from the perspective of club management, this is definitely not possible. The opinions of the fans will be very strong, which is not conducive to our brand image and long-term development. Therefore, we plan to use the slogan of impacting the Premier League and carry out discounts on season ticket sales. Bring the core fans back to season tickets."
Gao Shen looked at Su Qing, who smiled and nodded.
Obviously, she also agreed with this plan.
"We promise that for fans who hold season tickets this season, the price of season tickets will not increase in the next three years. At the same time, if the team is successfully promoted to the Premier League, a maximum of 50% of the season tickets will be refunded according to the grade of the season tickets. amount."
"Cash back?" Gao Shen was taken aback for a moment.
"Of course not." Lucas smiled and shook his head, "The refunded money can only be used to buy season tickets for next season or stadium consumption."
Gao Shen was amused when he heard it, and it was exactly as he expected.
In fact, this routine is not very clever, but it is very practical.
"The key is to let the fans believe that we have rectified the channel and our determination not to discount loose tickets easily." Gao Shen reminded.
Only fans believe this, and those fans who just need to watch the game will naturally tend to buy season tickets.
Lucas nodded, "We are confident that we can sell at least 20,000 copies."
Just over 6,000 tickets have been sold so far, which is already the best season ticket sales in the past few seasons.
According to Leeds United's average season ticket price of 350 pounds, if 20,000 tickets can be sold, it will be equivalent to recovering 7 million pounds for Leeds United at the beginning of the season. , that would be a lot of money.
What, fifty percent back?
Let's wait until the team enters the Premier League.
If you really enter the Premier League, you don't care about the money.
Next, as long as the chest advertising sponsorship and investment promotion are smooth, plus jersey sponsorship, match day operating income, and the British Championship broadcast rights, it is expected that Leeds United's funding problem this season will be resolved.
Of course, if you want to make a profit, you probably don't even think about the English Championship.
Because Gao Shen has invested a lot in all aspects, the salaries of the staff have increased a lot.
On the one hand, the high salary of players has been slowed down, which is much lower than before. For example, the highest salary now is Pogba and others, which is lower than that of Schmeichel and others before.
But in the past, Leeds United had a lot of players on loan, and the salaries of these players were paid by the parent club, but now all the players in Leeds United are their own, and they are not even on loan.
You know, for this alone, the requirements for salary expenditure will be much larger.
On the other hand, Gaoshen recruited a lot of professional employees, which caused the team to spend a lot on employee salaries.
In a word, Leeds United will not be able to make a profit in the English Championship.
If you don't try your best to generate income, you may have to invest money in Gao Shen.
Precisely because of this, Gao Shen attaches great importance to the China Merchants Bank this time. If he didn't have time, he even wanted to stand for Leeds United in person.
After all, his influence alone is enough to suppress the whole audience.
For China Merchants Bank this time, Su Qing is mainly in charge of the operation. She also has extensive contacts in the country, and she has already prepared for it through domestic relationships.
At present, many domestic brands aiming at overseas markets still lack some promotion channels. This time, Leeds United wants to give them such an opportunity. After all, the British market still plays an important role in European and American countries.
At the same time, Gao Shen also reminded Fernando Lucas that when they went to China to attract investment, Leeds United's logistics support work must be done well, and it must not affect the team's new season training preparations.
Sarri's coaching team has seen everyone, and they are all very good.
"Don't worry, Rudolph and I have communicated with Sarri and the others, and we have made sufficient preparations for many things, so there will be no delay."
Nod deeply.
Paris Saint-Germain's actions were bigger than he remembered in his previous life, the waves he set off were more violent, and the impact would be more ferocious.
In other words, the soaring wave of European players' worth and annual salary may accelerate.
The time left for Leeds United is getting less and less.
If it is not possible to adjust Leeds United as soon as possible during this window period and lay a solid foundation, then Leeds United may not be able to withstand this wave. At that time, it will be impossible to play with deep financial resources.
Both Su Qing and Lucas are aware of the profound sense of crisis.
Thinking of this, Gao Shen looked at Su Qing with a hint of apology.
Originally planned to get married this summer, but it was delayed as soon as I was busy.
On the contrary, Su Qing was free and easy, and responded with a gentle smile.
it is more than words.
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