Hull City Owner Considers 50% Increase In Season Ticket Prices If FA Say No To Tigers Name: Daily Soccer Report

Hull City have threatened to increase the prices of season tickets by 50% next season if The FA decides to block the requested name change from Hull City AFC to Hull Tigers.

Ehab Allam, who is the son of Essam Allam, says that the club will increase prices if they don’t get their way because they have shirt sponsorship deals for next season that are contingent on the name change being passed. The club has at least two global sponsorship deals for brands to advertise on the club shirts. But if the Allams don’t get their way, they say the sponsors will walk.

In an interview with the Hull Daily Mail newspaper, Ehab Allam said:

“[Raising season ticket prices] may be an avenue we are forced to explore and adopt. However, whilst it may provide a short-term revenue lift, we do not believe that constantly raising prices is a viable long-term option.”

Under the proposed idea, Hull City would raise season ticket prices by 50%, where the most expensive season ticket would be £750. The average price in the Premier League for the most expensive season tickets is currently £537.

Personally, I find it very hard to believe that a corporation would only want to sponsor Hull City if the club changed its name to Hull Tigers. The name Hull City has more history, tradition and name recognition than a name like Hull Tigers, which sounds more like a name for a rugby league team or a kid’s soccer team. If any corporations are considering sponsoring Hull City but are adamant that they will only pay to sponsor if the name is changed, then those companies don’t deserve to have their name on the shirts of Hull City Association Football Club.

Meanwhile, here’s a campaign video from the City Til We Die community group, who in opposition to the name change.

Here are today’s world soccer news headlines:

Premier League

• Hull City owner Ehab Allam threatens 50% rise in season-ticket prices — The Guardian
• Felix Magath wastes no time in criticising predecessor Rene Meulensteen for his ‘destabilising’ tactics — Independent
• Arsenal midfielder and supposed talisman Mesut Özil is failing to live up to his £42m billing — The Telegraph
• Doubts over Mathieu Debuchy’s future at Newcastle United — Newcastle Chronicle
• Duncan Ferguson given permanent coaching role at Everton — BBC Sport
• Tottenham game set to go ahead despite Ukraine unrest — The Mail
• Jonas Eriksson: Fifa chief backs ref after Pellegrini criticism — BBC Sport
• FA Cup scheduling set to anger Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini — The Telegraph
• Garry Monk’s Swansea take on Rafael Benítez’s Napoli without Michu — The Guardian
• Michael Laudrup press conference was pointless – Garry Monk — BBC Sport
• Rafa Benitez will advise Garry Monk after Swansea City play Napoli in the Europa League — Evening Post
• Manchester United face fan revolt over plans to charge top prices for Europa games — The Independent
• ‘England is my next step, but it might not be Tottenham’ – Louis van Gaal — Evening Standard
• Newcastle United submit plans for new state-of-the-art training centre — Newcastle Chronicle
• Everton anger over reduced ticket allocation for Arsenal FA Cup quarter-final — Metro
• Why football should scrap the ‘triple punishment’ rule over penalties — The Guardian

Championship

• Wigan Athletic midfielder Ben Watson suffers double leg break — BBC Sport

International soccer

• ITV want Roberto Martinez to join Glenn Hoddle as World Cup pundit — The Mail
• Michel Platini holds secret meeting with Kosovans in Albania — Inside World Football
• Serge Gnabry chooses Germany at international level — The Mirror
• Feud between Thibaut Courtois and Simon Mignolet threatens to derail Belgium’s World Cup — Pro Soccer Talk

MLS

• MLS referees’ union claims management threatened retribution — Washington Post

UEFA

• Bayern officials “puzzled” as Arsene Wenger did not shake Pep Guardiola’s hand before or after the game — 101GG
• How Newport County made it to the last eight of the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1981 — The Guardian

Bundesliga

• Toni Kroos: the modern midfielder who Bayern would be crazy to lose — The Guardian

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