Elite vs EPL - let's look at the numbers

There's a debate raging over on the Phoenix forum, and to a certain degree on THF about whether Phoenix would be better off building up from an EPL team or an EIHL team.

Rather than adding to the fuel there, I'd like to point out some of the figures over here. They're not perfect by any stretch, but should certainly indicate why the club needs an Elite team.

Elite team

Let's be conservative and say 2000 per game, paying an average of £10 a head. They'll maybe spend an extra £3 a head on a bite to eat, and a drink after the game. That's £26,000 per game income. For a 25 game season that's £650,000.

On top of that you've got some merchandise sales - let's say it averages out at a shirt per fan, that's going to be £50 - another £100,000 over the season.

So you have a total income of £750,000.

OK, you've got a wage bill of around £210,000. You've got to buy 2000 shirts to sell to the fans, that's going to cost you £80,000.


EPL Team

We're talking about 300 people coming through the door paying £5. You ain't going to get the old arena Phoenix fans coming because they want to watch top-level hockey. The fans are hard-core though, so they'll all spend an extra £5 per head on food, drink and 50-50 tickets at the rink. So that's £3000 per night.

So again, over a 25 game season that makes a total of £75,000 over the season. Add on the merchandise. The fans are extra loyal so spend more on merchandise - £60 worth each over the season. That's an extra £18,000 over the season.

Total income £93,000

So costs, well the players are all so pleased to be playing at EPL - they'll play for free. You've still got to buy your merchandise that's £14,000.


So?

Ah you're saying you've not included all the costs. No I haven't. But both teams would have to travel to away games, both teams need to insure players. Both teams need equipment. The club still needs to run an office. Say you can do all the other costs for £50K for the EPL team, and just because Elite is more expensive it's going to cost twice as much - £100K.

Where does that leave us?

Well in the Elite League kitty I've still got £360,000 - in the EPL kitty I've got £29,000. So you're about to spend a seven figure sum on an ice rink, and you can put a hockey team in it. Which would you choose?

Hell based on the figures above you could bankroll the EPL team, based on the money the Elite team generates. Of course if you're working to a tight deadline to get the Elite team up and running - would you want the hassle of getting the EPL team running too? Or would you wait until the following season?