The Scarlets are the latest club to become disillusioned with their bright new stadium. At just over 15,000 capacity, Parc Y Scarlets is not quite so hard to fill as the Liberty Stadium, but they're still getting nowhere near.
The result is a financial headache, and a matchday atmosphere less worthy of the name than the ice-clouds of Enceladus. TV pictures show entire banks of empty seats, while the soundtrack echos with the faint cries of beleagured fans bouncing off them. The impression is hardly one of an unmissable experience, and hence the vicious spiral continues. In the current climate of South Wales, the sofa seems an infinitely preferable option to all but the most masochistically loyal fan.
And yet, there is still no talk of cheaper tickets. The suits have their business models, of course, and if the numbers tell them that (for example) 7000*£16 is better than 14,000*£10, then I for one don't have the economics degree required to argue the point. But it does rather fly in the face of common sense, doesn't it? Of all the things keeping the droves of fans away from the shining new temples of regional rugby, can the lack of change from a "Bobby Moore" really be the least of them?
