April 14, 2004

It will only get more expensive to watch Albirex Niigata play football but for now, the increase is just a dollar.

Yesterday, the Japanese club announced that they would increase their ticket prices from $5 for adults & $1 for children to $6 & $2 respectively. The change will take effect from this Friday's clash against Sinchi TV.

Albirex Niigata operations manager Jun Minorikawa stated that the aim is to price the tickets at $10 to $15 in a few years time.

He felt that there is no other way as fans here pay $5 for a match ticket & if this goes on, Albirex Niigata operation in Singapore will go bankrupt. Albirex Niigata is financially strapped because this is their first year in operation. As they do not receive the seed money that local clubs do, their main revenue comes from sponsorship, gate collections & merchandising. Therefore they must find means to survive & make profits as well.

However he understand they have to deliver the goods on the pitch but there are some really exciting games in the S-League & he felt they are worth that kind of money.

The new ticket prices will make Albirex the most expensive team to watch in the S-League. All the other clubs are sticking with the current ticket pricing of $5 for adults and $1 for children.