Turning off the lights?

I am old enough to remember when floodlights were an innovative novelty and games in midwinter finished in near darkness.   These days we take them for granted, but energy price rises have focused attention on their cost.

Exeter City chairman Julian Tagg, like many executives in football, knows that hard times could be on the horizon amid the cost of living crisis this winter. As energy bills soar for clubs and fans, the margins will get even tighter for EFL and non-League clubs.

“Every club has a huge dependence on bums on seats,” Tagg says, with Exeter having made an impressive start to life in League One after promotion last season. “Lots do great work but you’re only as good as the number of bums on seats at our level. Everyone is going to feel that. Cashflow is king and many football clubs have to walk a tightrope on that front.”

League Two Mansfield Town have announced that their upcoming home match against Walsall on October 15 will be moved to an earlier 1pm kick-off rather than the traditional 3pm slot, while other leagues, such as the Isthmian League at step three of the non-League pyramid, have seen amended kick-off times. Using floodlights does not come cheap.

“The club is endeavouring to mitigate the forthcoming considerable increase in energy bills,” read a statement on Mansfield’s website. “As part of these efforts, the earlier kick-off time will enable the club to discern whether significant savings can be made on floodlight usage and other energy costs. Moreover, following the trial of this change in kick-off time, the club will be able to better determine whether an earlier kick-off on a Saturday would have an effect on prospective attendances.”

The balance between making savings on floodlight usage and the possibility of a reduced gate and spend-per-head inside the stadium is a key factor in clubs deciding whether to move kick-off to earlier in the day.

Some non-League clubs approached by The Athletic suggested that the fee saved by limiting use of floodlights would be negated by losing around 40 or 50 fans on the gate based on their ticket price alone, before any further purchases of food and drink inside the ground are considered.

“It’s a balance,” says Simon Gauge, chairman of League Two strugglers Rochdale. “The floodlights probably cost us £300 an hour to have on now. There’s a balance where if you move it to 1pm, what hospitality might you miss out on? The balance will be there for everyone.

Rochdale estimate that their bills have more than doubled. Last year’s gas bill was £20,000 and electricity was £46,000, but they expect it to be £80,000 for gas and £160,000 for electricity this time around.

They, like other EFL clubs, are having to be selective about when and how they use pitch lamps which enable grass growth and have made stadium upgrades to help with rising costs. At Championship level, former Hull City chief executive Jim Rodwell told a supporters’ club event in April that they were anticipating their energy bills to rise by £1million over 12 months, which could impact ticket prices.

Though there is faith among league chiefs that clubs should be able to weather the storm, the impact is being felt in other areas, as Exeter’s Tagg explains.

“We’re doing a project now that was forecast to cost £2million for the new training ground. But the raw material prices keep going up. No one can guarantee what the final number is going to be but we’re talking about £800k or £900k more. Everyone who is doing any kind of project has either stopped or is facing a significant hit.