Chapter 76: All Because of the Tickets
"Hello, Adam! Welcome to Bayswater Chinese FC!"
Three days later, when Yang Cheng received Adam Crozier at the Bayswater Stadium, the top-salaried public official in the UK looked visibly troubled.
It was his first time at the Bayswater Stadium, and its simplicity had taken him by surprise.
Yang Cheng chuckled inwardly.
What a delicate guy!
"Come on, just make do for now. You haven't even seen Chelsea's storage warehouse—it's worse than ours."
He pointed off into the distance, "At least our setup, though small, is complete and functional. And our facilities are excellent."
This wasn't just Yang Cheng bragging.
Over the past two years of coaching the team, he had invested heavily in facilities.
A three-man data analysis team alone had cost a significant amount.
Plus, all kinds of hardware, equipment, software, and more—Yang Cheng never cut corners where spending was necessary.
Since leasing Loftus Road Stadium, the current Bayswater Stadium had been fully repurposed as the first team's training ground, including the partially built stadium.
The club's offices were also located inside the stadium.
From the outside, it looked like an unfinished building.
Given that Adam Crozier was used to working in London's glitzy CBD, it was only natural for him to frown at the idea of working in a place like this.
But after Yang Cheng took him on a tour around the training grounds, especially after visiting each department and facility, Adam Crozier began to look at everything with new eyes.
The data analysis team led by Gianni Vio left him especially impressed.
The goal that beat Chelsea in the League Cup final had come from a set-piece—exactly the kind of tactic informed by data.
According to Yang Cheng, the analysis team would be deeply involved in both match strategy and training.
From the outside, the office looked like a half-finished building and indeed wasn't very appealing.
The stadium wasn't completed either, so the exterior couldn't be renovated yet—it was all temporary.
But inside, it was decently furnished.
At the very least, it had a proper working atmosphere.
"We currently have 17 staff working here. This is the finance room, and your office is over here," Xia Qing said as she led the way.
"Don't get the wrong idea, I'm just here to check things out," Adam Crozier quickly explained.
Yang Cheng laughed heartily and gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder. "Come on, stop pretending. I bet you've already completed the handover procedures—you think I don't know?"
Adam Crozier looked slightly embarrassed.
And truth be told, it was a bit awkward.
His conflict with some of the Royal Mail board members had been brewing for a while.
After all, reform always steps on some toes.
Especially with massive layoffs and aggressive restructuring—he had messed with a lot of vested interests.
Turning Royal Mail profitable had made plenty of people resentful.
The media had hyped him up as the highest-paid public servant, but all it really did was put a target on his back.
Then came the waves of strikes, all happening right under his leadership.
When he was caught by reporters watching a match at the Cardiff Stadium, his opponents pounced.
And honestly, those weren't even the real issues.
Adam Crozier hadn't paid those people much mind—it was the toxic work environment that wore him down.
Still, for the sake of the high salary, he had endured it.
But Yang Cheng had predicted it.
The British government decided to break Royal Mail's monopoly starting January 2006.
And just like that, Royal Mail lost its biggest bargaining chip.
Adam Crozier knew exactly what kind of company Royal Mail really was—without that huge slice of the business, it was going to decline year after year.
Add to that the constant harassment from dissenters and the endless trouble from employees, and he saw his chance.
He took a severance package and left.
...
"My salary stays at £1 million—pre-tax," Adam Crozier said.
After the tour, he, Xia Qing, and Yang Cheng were inside the CEO's office with the door closed for a private discussion.
Adam Crozier wasn't the shy type—he got straight to the point.
Yang Cheng was equally straightforward. "Deal."
"You can rest assured, I'll earn every penny of it," Adam Crozier said confidently.
Yang Cheng smiled. "I never doubted that."
"The current setup is a bit bare—I'll need to hire some people."
Yang Cheng looked over at Xia Qing, who picked up the thread. "Our club has strict salary controls. I'll work with you on that."
Since Lin Zhongqiu had returned to China, Xia Qing was now Bayswater Chinese FC's Chief Financial Officer.
Although Yang Cheng had great faith in Adam Crozier, he wasn't about to leave things completely unchecked.
After all, human nature is easily tested.
Yang Cheng made his position clear: Adam Crozier would have authority over personnel on the administrative side, while all financial matters—including the first team and youth academy—would be under Xia Qing's control.
Both would report directly to him.
He had already discussed many details with Adam Crozier over the phone while in Ukraine.
For example, the goal for the upcoming Premier League season wasn't just survival, but to push for a higher finish.
Yang Cheng was confident.
If not for the League Cup final, Adam Crozier might have had doubts—but now, he was excited.
However, the first tricky issue Adam Crozier had to handle upon taking office was ticketing.
In the past two seasons, ticket prices for Bayswater Chinese FC had been set at £30.
Since the stadium had rarely been full, there hadn't been any real issues.
But during the second half of last season, matches were sold out every week. Ticketing became a mess, leading to complaints from fans who said the club's system was a total disaster.
"This suggestion came from the third-party ticketing company we work with," Xia Qing said, handing over a document.
"I haven't even officially started yet and you're already putting me to work?" Adam Crozier joked while reaching for the document.
Most Premier League clubs outsourced their ticketing operations to third-party companies, which also helped with pricing strategies.
This company's suggestion was to implement tiered pricing, a common practice in English football.
Matches would be divided into three tiers: A, B, and C—C being the cheapest, A the most expensive.
Ticket prices would also vary depending on stadium location.
Clubs typically offered season tickets, bundling all home league matches into a single package.
That way, fans didn't have to buy tickets for each individual match.
Some clubs offered discounts on season tickets; others didn't.
London clubs, for instance, usually offered little to no discount.
According to the third-party calculations, the average ticket price would still be around £30.
But that was just a suggestion.
Generally, when clubs get promoted to the Premier League, they raise prices.
"What do you think?" Yang Cheng asked.
This was his first test for Adam Crozier.
"There should definitely be tiers," Crozier replied, but then shook his head. "But if we follow their suggestion, we're taking a huge loss."
"How so?"
"Based on my research, even Arsenal's lowest-tier matches have ticket prices starting at £30."
Arsenal's cheapest seats were behind the goal on the lower tier.
Upper tiers were more expensive than lower tiers.
"And for them, the highest C-tier price is £54, and A-tier goes up to £71."
"I've also heard that after the Glazers acquired Manchester United, they're planning to raise prices by £3 per ticket, bringing the average to £39."
"West Ham and Sunderland, even after relegation, haven't dropped their prices much. West Ham especially—their Championship ticket prices are almost the same as in the Premier League. They just offer a small discount on season tickets."
If they followed the third-party's plan and averaged £30, the lowest prices would be far too low.
Fans would love it, but the club's income would take a big hit.
"Loftus Road has very small stands. Some might be double-tiered, but their capacity is still smaller than single-tier stands elsewhere."
"The goals are at the east and west ends. I suggest keeping standard tickets at £30 for those sections to accommodate price-sensitive fans."
In fact, most complaints about ticket prices came from these fans.
It made sense—families of three could easily spend £90 on a match, plus food and drinks, and suddenly it's £100.
Occasionally is fine, but every week—or twice a week—it's a real burden for lower-income households.
"The north and south stands have the best views and comfort. We should raise prices for those."
"Especially the upper tier of the north stand—we have 312 VIP padded seats there. I suggest pricing them at £100."
"£100?" Xia Qing was surprised.
"Isn't that a bit much?" Yang Cheng hesitated too.
"Easy. We'll offer better packages for them," Crozier said confidently.
Yang Cheng got the feeling this guy wasn't worried at all about selling those 312 VIP seats.
And those weren't even private boxes—just padded VIP seating. Boxes would be priced even higher.
"I haven't done the full math yet, but I think we can raise our average ticket price to £40. Once Manchester United increases theirs, their average will definitely be above £40."
Typically, Manchester clubs had lower prices than those in London.
So even if Bayswater Chinese FC raised the average to £40, it still wouldn't be considered expensive.
Yang Cheng did some mental math.
At 18,000 tickets per match, a sell-out would bring in £720,000, plus £30,000 from VIPs—totaling £750,000.
Across 19 home league matches, that's £14.25 million.
Add in matchday food and drinks, and you're easily looking at £16 million.
Last season, even the bottom-ranked, relegated Southampton earned £14 million in Premier League prize money.
Which meant ticket sales and league bonuses alone could net Bayswater Chinese FC over £30 million.
And that's not including merchandise or sponsorships.
With all that combined, they could potentially break £40 million.
Yang Cheng felt dazed realizing this.
When he first took over the club, he had stressed over £1 million—almost going bankrupt.
Now?
There was a chance to break £40 million in revenue. Unreal.
But in Premier League terms, that wasn't even impressive—possibly below average.
Especially after deducting operating costs, wages, and daily expenses—not much might be left.
And don't forget, the club was still deeply in debt.
Now that they were in the Premier League, the wage structure had to change too.
Xia Qing had carefully crafted an incentive-based salary system for the team.
Considering the squad's youth, base salaries were modest.
The top-tier weekly wage was just £6,000.
Which, in a league full of five-figure weekly wages, was extremely low.
But the bonuses were massive.
According to Xia Qing, as long as the team avoided relegation, every player would earn a generous bonus.
The better the results, the higher the bonuses.
The idea was to motivate players to train harder and fight for wins.
And for the club, it made perfect sense.
Each spot higher on the Premier League table was worth an extra £500,000.
Not to mention, the more matches you got on live broadcast, the more bonus money you received.
In theory, the better your team performed, the higher you finished, the more broadcasts you got—and the more money you earned.
Xia Qing calculated that total weekly wages would amount to about £5 million for the season.
That figure would be the lowest in the Premier League—even West Brom paid over £10 million.
Sunderland, also newly promoted, had crossed the £10 million mark.
But if the club reached a mid-table finish, the players' bonuses plus wages would also approach £10 million.
That would narrow the gap significantly.
Considering Bayswater Chinese FC had always paid low wages, increasing the cap to £6,000 now was reasonable.
Combined with the generous bonuses, it would be enough to drive the players to give their best.
Yang Cheng had full confidence in Xia Qing.
When the new season started, he would leave all operations to Xia Qing and Adam Crozier, and focus solely on football.
He believed that with Crozier's skill, as long as he delivered results, the club's income would rise rapidly.
And after returning from Ukraine with triumph, he was more confident than ever for the new season!
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