I think this is very significant which is why they have gone to the trouble of getting the figures. We're all agreed that people are buying tickets and then not going. The question is, how long will that continue. United, in particular, have a real problem. People went along with buying expensive season tickets and that foul compulsory cup scheme on the basis that, with demand exceeding supply, they would always be able to shift their tickets when they couldn't go. Indeed, long after my dad couldn't go any more due tio ill-health, he sold his seats on but never gave up his season ticket. Then, a couple of seasons ago, he couldn't sell them because no-one would buy except for major games so eventually he let it go.
The very scarcity of tickets created a demand spiral, a sort of frenzy, to buy tickets even on terms that were a rip-off. Now the situation is different. If you can get a ticket for any game, there's no need to buy a season ticket on adverse terms and the spiral reverses itself downward. In short, supply has now exceeded demand which is a commercial disaster for United whose whole financial structure is built around the "theatre of dreams" myth.
For us, it means that we might not need that increased capacity for a while.
