How good would the LOI be with a €145,000,000 investment?

BOHtox · 04-09-2011 09:31PM #1

Funny I should ask that as that's exactly what's being spent by Irish people going abroad to watch British football.

From the Irish times:

IRISH FOOTBALL fans spent approximately €145 million last year visiting Premier League grounds and made 164,000 visits, with an average spend of £776 (€884.64) each, according to VisitBritain, the UK’s state tourism agency.
The Irish accounted for one-in-five football fans who visited a Premier League ground from overseas last year. Though the Irish are by far the most popular visitors to Premier League grounds, a similar survey in 2008 found 267,000 Irish fans attended a match in the UK, so the numbers travelling (down almost 40 per cent) have clearly been hit by the recession.
In that year 400,000 Irish people visited a sporting event in the UK, which may be accounted for by the huge influx to Cheltenham and other race meetings every year.
The Premier League is arguably the most popular football league in the world and is beamed into 212 different territories with an audience reach of nearly four billion people.
Last year 750,000 overseas fans attended a Premier League ground. That was worth €678 million a year to the British economy. After Ireland, Norway (77,000), the US (56,000), the Netherlands (41,000) and Germany (39,000) provided the greatest number of visitors.
Unsurprisingly, Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United, was the most popular venue – attracting 114,000 visitors. This was followed by Anfield, the home of Liverpool, which attracted 89,000 visitors; Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium (88,000), Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge (54,000), and Tottenhams White Hart Lane (38,000).
Surprisingly, Celtic’s ground, Celtic Park, which is a huge draw for Irish fans, did not figure in the top 10 grounds.
Patricia Yates, the director of strategy and communication at VisitBritain, said the results showed the impact of a partnership between itself and the Premier League going back to 2008 with many footballers extolling the virtues of the country on the VisitBritain website.
“It has given us access to some of the stars of the British game who have promoted Britain to their fans back home – and encouraged them to come and visit,” she said

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/travel/2011/0903/1224303401548.html

Where would the LOI be with €145 million investment?
If divided up between the current 21 clubs that would mean that each club would get €6.9 million each. That's a lot of money. I presume that's around mid to low Championship level football.
Thoughts on the article and what it entails?

I-Shot-Jr · 04-09-2011 09:33PM

The LOI could sign Ronaldo then hold a raffle between all the clubs for him.

Ebbs · 04-09-2011 09:45PM

Sweet jesus. Firstly...800 per game? Are people flying via private jets or something :S With champaign rather than fosters

LoI could actually hold on to good players, build bigger grounds and actually push forward. We'd still be a feeder league but atleast not to the likes of the SPL and such. The money would snow ball too. We'd have better stadiums and better players....hence go further in europe and once again draw bigger crowds.

I hate these shít hypothetical questions that get my hopes up but ultimately leave me more bitter :pac:

Mr Alan · 04-09-2011 09:47PM

I predict good things for this thread

Big Pussy Bonpensiero · 04-09-2011 09:47PM

Not this shït again...

Chucky the tree · 04-09-2011 09:48PM

Pretty flawed to ponder what the 21 LOI clubs could do with €145m Most of that money is spent on flights and accomdation which the EPL club get nothing from.

Mars Bar · 04-09-2011 09:49PM

A person who spends €800 on a trip to a PL match needs their head fúcking checked.
It can easily be done on €200.

BOHtox · 04-09-2011 09:50PM

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Pretty flawed to ponder what the 21 LOI clubs could do with €145m Most of that money is spent on flights and accomdation which the EPL club get nothing from.

I'm not saying what would the clubs do with the money the EPL clubs get, I'm saying what would the clubs do with the money that the Oirish football 'fan' spend on going to and seeing the the EPL

THFC wrote: »

Not this shït again...

Cheers, mate.

BOHtox · 04-09-2011 09:52PM

Mr Alan wrote: »

I predict good things for this thread

THFC wrote: »

Not this shït again...

And us League of Ireland supporters are bad.
Can we please just discuss what was in the article, opening post and the money involved.

OPENROAD · 04-09-2011 09:54PM

What do you think OP?

Chucky the tree · 04-09-2011 09:54PM

BOHtox wrote: »

I'm not saying what would the clubs do with the money the EPL clubs get, I'm saying what would the clubs do with the money that the Oirish football 'fan' spend on going to and seeing the the EPL

Cheers, mate.

But the Oirish football fans wouldn't spent close to €145m because they wouldn't need to pay for a flight/boat or a night's accomdation. Just multple 400,000 fans who traveled to england by the cost ticket for the LOI and that's why Irish clubs are missing out on.

cson · 04-09-2011 09:55PM

Somewhere in the SPL realm I'd imagine.

Freedom of choice is a great thing all the same.

ArmaniJeanss · 04-09-2011 09:56PM

BOHtox wrote: »

I'm not saying what would the clubs do with the money the EPL clubs get, I'm saying what would the clubs do with the money that the Oirish football 'fan' spend on going to and seeing the the EPL

You can't just ignore the fact that most of the money isn't football spend, its ancilliary stuff like flights, accomadation, beer. Quite often the game is just a cover for a lads away trip.

If you choose to ignore this then you might as well ask what would the LOI do with the €145M spent on trips to Ibiza.

Mars Bar · 04-09-2011 09:57PM

I'd be far more worried on what the money the FAI spent on the beer and train for that Irish match could have done for the LOI.

yosemite_sam · 04-09-2011 10:00PM

Sad, I was on a ferry back in May. It was full of Irish Manu fans, like people possessed. You would have sworn that Manchester Utd were an Irish club, the way they were going on. We are going doing this and we are going to win that, the Club must be in fits of laughter seeing these mugs over week in week out

BOHtox · 04-09-2011 10:00PM

OPENROAD wrote: »

What do you think OP?

I reckon we'd be mid- Championship but we'd have the allure of European football over the Championship clubs. Players like Keith Fahey, Pat McCourt, Niall McGinn, Shaun Williams, Willo Flood, Sean Dillon, Brian Murphy would all be League of Ireland players.
Qualification to the Champions League group stages would happen and regular qualification to the same stage in the Europa.
Stadia would be developed. Crowds, on average, would be 10 times what they are now.
Regularly, League of Ireland players would be International Players.

BOHtox · 04-09-2011 10:03PM

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

You can't just ignore the fact that most of the money isn't football spend, its ancilliary stuff like flights, accomadation, beer. Quite often the game is just a cover for a lads away trip.

If you choose to ignore this then you might as well ask what would the LOI do with the €145M spent on trips to Ibiza.

X amount of money is spent watching the matches.
X= { Travel, beer, match ticket}
X is now spent on League of Ireland, in this theoretical example.
X= €145m.
League of Ireland gets investment of X

Chucky the tree · 04-09-2011 10:04PM

BOHtox wrote: »

X amount of money is spent watching the matches.
X= { Travel, beer, match ticket}
X is now spent on League of Ireland, in this theoretical example.
X= €145m.
League of Ireland gets investment of X

This is incredibly retarded logic. Why not just multiple 400k by the price on an adult ticket?

applehunter · 04-09-2011 10:05PM

Something not right here.

Gone over a couple of times myself and spent nowhere near €900. She's got her figures wrong there I'd say.

€10 into the Cross on Saturday, €4.20 for pint in the Horseshoe at HT, Petrol divided by 4 I guess about €1.

That's €15.20 all kept in the local economy.

Great value I must say.

BOHtox · 04-09-2011 10:07PM

Chucky the tree wrote: »

This is incredible retarded logic.

Or can you not comprehend it?

IT'S FÚCKING EASY. IN THIS *EXAMPLE*, I'M SAYING WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO THE LEAGUE OF IRELAND WITH THE EXACT AMOUNT OF MONEY SPENT BY IRISH PEOPLE GOING TO THE EPL?
I KNOW MONEY IS SPENT ON TRAVEL, ETC. I'M PRESUMING THAT THE IRISH WOULD ALSO SPEND THIS MONEY ON THE LOI.

For all we know they could take the club bus to every away game and spend money in the club bars.

lordgoat · 04-09-2011 10:07PM

Still brutal. It takes years and interest from kids to stay in soccer and develop, not just money.

eagle eye · 04-09-2011 10:07PM

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

You can't just ignore the fact that most of the money isn't football spend, its ancilliary stuff like flights, accomadation, beer. Quite often the game is just a cover for a lads away trip.

If you choose to ignore this then you might as well ask what would the LOI do with the €145M spent on trips to Ibiza.

Good post but when you think about it if even a quarter of that money was spent on the LOI and if that money was used in a sensible budget to go on trips to LoI games it would make a huge difference.

I'm starting to go to a few games again after years away from it. Its enjoyable and tbh just as enjoyable as going to England to a game, and probably moreso because you meet people every week and make friends over time. Clearly the standard isn't as good but you have a much better view than what you normally get at a game in England and the football has become more exciting I think that it was when I last went many years back.

Personally I think now I prefer to watch the Premeir League on tv and attend LoI live than spend a lump of money on a trip abroad to a game.

GLaDOS · 04-09-2011 10:09PM

lordgoat wrote: »

Still brutal. It takes years and interest from kids to stay in soccer and develop, not just money.

If there was more money in the Irish game we'd be better able to hold onto the talent we produce instead of anyone half decent going to england/scotland the first sign of interest

OPENROAD · 04-09-2011 10:09PM

BOHtox wrote: »

Or can you not comprehend it?

IT'S FÚCKING EASY. IN THIS *EXAMPLE*, I'M SAYING WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO THE LEAGUE OF IRELAND WITH THE EXACT AMOUNT OF MONEY SPENT BY IRISH PEOPLE GOING TO THE EPL?
I KNOW MONEY IS SPENT ON TRAVEL, ETC. I'M PRESUMING THAT THE IRISH WOULD ALSO SPEND THIS MONEY ON THE LOI.

For all we know they could take the club bus to every away game and spend money in the club bars.

Basically what you already said, clubs could improve stadiums etc... but obviously it is not a reality, bit like wondering what would happen if the country struck oil

ynwa_17 · 04-09-2011 10:10PM

Better question:

How good would the LOI be if all the money Seán Dunne owed Nama was given to the leagues?

BOHtox · 04-09-2011 10:10PM

lordgoat wrote: »

Still brutal. It takes years and interest from kids to stay in soccer and develop, not just money.

Ridiculous statement.

Rovers have had two band wagons in the last 3 years. Each time multipling their previous average crowd. The Tallaght Band wagon and now Europe. Money from this has allowed them to buy quality players and they have a very healty average crowd now.

Bohs, Shels, Rovers, Derry, Cork etc have all spent money and bought quality players. This was not recognised by the Irish 'stooler and left the clubs looking like idiots overspending big time.

BOHtox · 04-09-2011 10:12PM

OPENROAD wrote: »

Basically what you already said, clubs could improve stadiums etc... but obviously it is not a reality, bit like wondering what would happen if the country struck oil

I've said a numerous amount of times that this is a theoretical example

Chucky the tree · 04-09-2011 10:19PM

Oh Okay. Imo the clubs would end up spending the extra mony on paying ridiculous wages to very average players and then most clubs would end up bankrupt/in sever financial difficulty a few years down the line with a few clubs being demoted for being financial inept.

lordgoat · 04-09-2011 10:22PM

ScienceNerd wrote: »

If there was more money in the Irish game we'd be better able to hold onto the talent we produce instead of anyone half decent going to england/scotland the first sign of interest

Anyone that's half decent is rarely able to play at the highest level, so while there is a better product available as close by it will always be playing second fiddle.

BOHtox · 04-09-2011 10:22PM

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Oh Okay. Imo the clubs would end up spending the extra mony on paying ridiculous wages to very average players and then most clubs would end up bankrupt/in sever financial difficulty a few years down the line with a few clubs being demoted for being financial inept.

Well look at you Mister glass half full throwing his toys out of the pram.

Why would we do that?
The league has overspent when we hadn't money. Clubs have learnt from this and are now prudent. It didn't happen in England or Scotland when they started getting from TV money, European money and big sponsorship deals.

lordgoat · 04-09-2011 10:25PM

BOHtox wrote: »

Ridiculous statement.

Rovers have had two band wagons in the last 3 years. Each time multipling their previous average crowd. The Tallaght Band wagon and now Europe. Money from this has allowed them to buy quality players and they have a very healty average crowd now.

Bohs, Shels, Rovers, Derry, Cork etc have all spent money and bought quality players. This was not recognised by the Irish 'stooler and left the clubs looking like idiots overspending big time.

Ehh the standard of football played is terrible. And i unfortunately still go to games for some strange reason.

The match rovers derry match on tv, somehow managed to be a game of soccer as poor as the international game. To develop the game sure you need money, but more importantly you need numbers from a young age combined with good coaching.

How good would the LOI be with a €145,000,000 investment?

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