Suppose you gave a football match, and nobody came
I once asked a statistician friend what the odds were of nobody turning up to a Premier League football match.
Think about it like this: most season ticket holders go to all games. Until Stanley came along I wouldn’t miss a game for the world, but things do happen and sometimes you can’t make it. I assume most people who have bought a ticket also then attend. Away fans are probably less likely to travel. So if you take 25,000 people and factor in the associated odds, what would be the probability of nobody turning up at the ground on a Saturday afternoon?
Massive, I assume, but it could happen. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if it did?
Anyway, QPR may be the first to experience this. Here’s a breakdown and discussion of their ticket prices for next season. Hilarious!
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So soon with the mocking of QPR? I like it.
Several years ago, I attended a Peninsula Pilots baseball game [Hampton, VA] where my wife and I comprised exactly 1/4th of the paid attendance. Yes, there was threatening weather, but this was a league that included the Durham Bulls during the same year that the great Susan Sarandon movie Bull Durham came out. I’ve always been disappointed that the PA announcer didn’t call each of us up to introduce ourselves.
The closest I came to this in England was Luton v. Notts County back when Ted Heath was Prime Minister. He was trying to break the coal miner’s union and there were constant power cuts. As a result, previously floodlit league matches were shown during daylight hours. The Country match kicked off at 1100 on a Tuesday. I think there were about 115 of us in attendance.