The comparison to Stoke is an interesting one.
Comparative numbers for year to June 2023:
Average attendance 20,570 vs MFC 26,012.
Stoke final position 16th vs MFC 4th.
Turnover £31.2m vs MFC £28.6m. No Parachute Payments.
Ticket receipts £5.1m vs MFC £8.8m (plus £0.3m Cup)
They had yet another terrible season yet still averaged the 6th highest crowd in the league; fair play.
It is indisputable that they generated less from tickets and much less per head.
It is also true that Stoke on Trent is a much smaller place than the Tees Valley, with much more competition. Simply put Middlesbrough have much bigger potential than Stoke City.
I'd propose Stoke have decided to price cheaply in order to lock in as many local people as possible. Again fair play.
MFC do similar with the SC's and EB incentive.
They do it however at a much higher price level.
What Stoke don't do however, is insult price for everyone not on Early Bird. A 3rd fair play for me. Hats off!
But how is Stoke's turnover 10% higher when gate receipts are so much lower?
Simply, their non ticket revenue is £26.1m vs MFC £19.1m.
The revenue categorisation is not like for like outside of tickets, in the two sets of accounts, so difficult to be precise.
I know I differ in opinion from some posters in that I think the MFC EB prices are pretty good value and I don't object to a price increase to them.
I also think the GRFZ is terrible on many levels, but my biggest disagreement is on the penalisation of new SC applicants and sheer exploitation of anybody who does not buy a SC. I speak as a SC holder.
Championship football is a collective basket case.
Pricing like Stoke do, whilst paying for a squad to make top 6 at least, will generate hideous losses that stretch any club's P&S allowances, however rich the owner may be.
Stoke's owners are the 16th wealthiest people in the UK, billionaires nearly 9 times over.
I have no idea how they escaped FFP penalty when they lost £146m before tax, whilst a Championship club, across the 3 years 2019-22.
The Parent Group including Bet365, waived £120m of debt in 1 year in 2022. This has no bearing on the P&S calculations.
It makes FFP/P&S a joke, as no club could claim allowances for Academy/Women/Community/Covid/Depreciation of Fixed Assets/Revaluation of Fixed Assets that would get Stoke from -£146m to -£39m for that 3 year period.
The communication and PR of our club is a joke and this has needlessly upset so many fans.
But if I was Gibson and Bausor, I would be wondering how Stoke with far fewer fans, performing far worse on the pitch, on Sky far less often last season, can generate 24% more (£7m) non ticket revenue.
Stoke were crooked in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 re FFP.
They seem to still be playing games based on 2023 published accounts.