Ticket price story in V-League

The financial resources of a professional football club are often linked to the team's performance and brand. The players play well to attract spectators to the stadium and viewers on television, these are important indicators that sponsors are interested in. Ticket prices vary from club to club, depending on the brand and the love of fans for the players.

The current state of Vietnam's grandstands

Usually, big teams with many stars will have more expensive tickets. For a long time, the revenue from ticket sales is not large, so it seems that few V.League clubs care about ticket prices. Some clubs even open their doors for free, do not sell tickets and try to minimize the cost of organizing matches.

Surprisingly, it is not the defending champion Hanoi FC or Viettel, teams that have invested a lot in buying players and hiring coaches, but Nam Dinh that attracts the most spectators to the stadium. With an average audience of 15,000 people/match, the team from Nam Dinh even ranks 6th among the most crowded stadiums in Southeast Asia.

Vinh Stadium has a capacity of 18,000 seats, divided into 10 areas with 5 price categories from 10,000 VND/match to 70,000 VND/match, considered "stimulus prices".

With poor home results, in V.League 2019, the average audience at Vinh Stadium was only 7,000 people/match, ranking 7th. In fact, if calculated accurately, the audience of Nghe An team must be in the top 3 because in matches at Thong Nhat, Go Dau, Hang Day Stadiums... SLNA's audience overwhelmed the home team.

After moving from Hanoi, Saigon FC has very few fans. Last season, with an average audience of only 3,731 people/match, it was considered the least in V.League 2019.

Signs of improvement

Coach Chung Hae-soung's team is making the biggest investment this season, having already signed Cong Phuong from Sint-Truidense, recruited goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung from Hanoi FC and is in the process of negotiating to bring Lee Nguyen to Thong Nhat Stadium. The foreign players of the Thong Nhat Stadium team all have transfer prices that are among the most expensive in the V.League.

Coach Chung Hae-soung's team is having the biggest investment this season. Photo AT.

The football team of President Huu Thang Club has undergone a comprehensive change in both expertise and communication, brand and football business. Accordingly, the price of individual tickets for each match in the A1 stand of Thong Nhat Stadium has been increased from 100,000 VND/match to 150,000 VND/match.

Accordingly, tickets for stands A2 and A3 also increased from 80,000 VND last season to 100,000 VND, tickets for stand B increased from 40,000 VND to 70,000 VND. Tickets for stands C and D cost 50,000 VND, 2.5 times higher than the price of 20,000 VND last year.

The price for each season ticket has increased by about 30% from 1 million VND to 1,350 million VND for the A1 stand area. In the remaining two areas (A2 and A3), fans have to pay 910,000 VND. Ho Chi Minh City Club was very clever when announcing that the season ticket can only watch V.League 2020, the National Cup and AFC Cup matches are separated, which is truly the art of business.

Obviously, compared to the ticket price of Thong Nhat Stadium, the price for Thien Truong Stadium fans is much cheaper. Currently, Nam Ha Nam Dinh Pharmaceutical Sports Joint Stock Company has sold season tickets, stands A1, A2 (800,000 VND), stands B1, B2 (500,000 VND). This is considered a price suitable for the budget of Thanh Nam people and enough for Nam Dinh fans to have fun with the team on the weekend.

For SLNA, V.League 2020 is the 37th season of the highest level of Vietnamese football that they participate in, so the organization is very methodical. Vinh Stadium has a capacity of 18,000 seats divided into 10 areas divided into 5 price categories from 10,000 VND/match to 70,000 VND/match, which is considered a "stimulus price". The price of a season ticket is only 800,000 VND and 650,000 VND, which is considered a "goodwill" for the National Cup.

After the 2017 V.League season, the picture of Vietnamese football was gloomy and hit rock bottom. Now, the football business is undergoing a major change. But when will the revenue from TV copyright, ticket sales and souvenirs of V.League teams be able to cover basic expenses? That is still a dream.