Celtic have been, quite rightly, praised for their excellent financial results over the past few years that have taken the club light years ahead of Rangers and the rest of Scottish football.
From negotiating lucrative sponsorship deals with Dafabet and Magners to kit deals with Adidas, Celtic has made the most from the limited financial resources made available to them.
Celtic’s player trading model alongside the incredible amounts of money the fans plug into the club through season ticket sales, merchandising and matchday income has made Celtic the richest club in the country by a long distance.
At the 2024 Celtic AGM, fans wanted to know if they would use their vast financial resources to reduce season ticket prices. It seems not.
In fact, it looks like Celtic are trying to squeeze more money out of the fans and after announcing their latest money-making venture, the Celtic supporters roundly condemned the club.
Celtic’s ‘own a piece of Paradise’ venture panned by the Parkhead support
This is the new venture being sold by Celtic right now:
Own a piece of Paradise 🏟️
— Celtic FC Shop (@CelticFCShop) November 25, 2024
Be part of Celtic history by claiming your spot at Celtic Park in collaboration with Sportli Virtual Pitch 🍀
🔗 https://t.co/4WEiv9wBoC pic.twitter.com/joNxXZfBVQ
Just in case the club do actually delete it:
And the initiative has been roundly panned by almost the entire Celtic support.
@CelticFCSLO Can we email the club over this? It's a scam. Pure and simple. Taking hard earned cash off fans for absolutely nothing in return. Disgraceful.
— The Free Rogic International. (@CelticEnded2iar) November 25, 2024
This Celtic fan nails it:
Wait. So what am I actually getting for my money because it sounds like nothing.
— Jester 🏴🍀 (@jordanbanks67) November 25, 2024
A ‘scam’:
We gave you season ticket money when the stadium was closed and this is even more of a scam.
— P*** 'Ace' McQ**** 🔻 (@Queenmachine88) November 25, 2024
Celtic told to ‘hang their heads in shame’.
There's shocking and then there's incredibly shocking. @CelticFC has it really come to this? Seriously?
— 3rdFrame (@The3rdFrame) November 25, 2024
Tens of millions in the bank…the club has never been richer and people are struggling with the cost of living and you launch this scam?
Hang your heads in shame.
A ‘complete and utter rip off’:
Jesus Christ @CelticFC @CelticFCShop @CelticFCSLO this appalling trying to get fans to part with cash for nothing. Hardly in keeping with the ethos of the club. I’m all for broadening revenue streams but this is a complete and utter ripoff
— McTall (@bigdevineuk) November 25, 2024
Celtic fan demands a P45:
Whoever sanctioned that should get their p45. A club sitting with tens of millions of pounds in the bank looking to rob susceptible individuals of £50 at Christmas time.
— DeclanCampbell (@Newlandsdoc) November 25, 2024
Celtic ‘pulled up’ on this ‘scam’:
This is an absolute scam, club need to be pulled up on this. Enough money poured into it by supporters for overpriced mountains of new releases on a weekly basis. Sort it out @CelticFC
— Robbie Brown (@Robbiebrown88) November 25, 2024
I have to agree with the Celtic supporters here. This is an utter scandal that someone at the club signed off on this.
My good friend, James Forrest at The Celtic Blog, summed this up perfectly in his latest and scathing criticism of this move.
Forrest wrote in his latest blog, “The individuals responsible for this Celtic “virtual pitch” scandal need to be kicked out of the club.
“I didn’t want Celtic anywhere near this trash. They are selling you a license for something that doesn’t even exist. It’s hard even to contemplate sober how seedy and shady that actually is. This isn’t even Everest air in a bottle; it’s worse. It’s nothing at all.”
One person I know likened this deal to buying skins for your character on a popular video game, Fortnite. But it’s nothing like that at all. At least you get to KEEP those for as long as you own the game.
Forrest also does some superb digging into the company that managed to talk Celtic into making this move and it’s not great reading.
How much Celtic are donating to the Foundation from each virtual pitch sale
To try and sweeten the deal and make this look like a charitable move as well, Celtic are donating some of the proceeds of the sale to the Foundation.
£30 gets you a piece of the virtual pitch to rent (not own) for a year. £50 gives you the privilege for three. So just how much money are Celtic looking to donate to the Foundation from each sale?
£5? £10? Maybe even half of what the supporters are being asked to pay? One Celtic fan asked the company involved in running the scheme.
For anyone wondering exactly how is donated to the Celtic Foundation from each sale, £1 goes to the foundation. £1! pic.twitter.com/7ZdU5flERL
— Vic (@celtic_vic) November 25, 2024
One measly pound. A quid. £1. What a shambles.
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