The era of frozen Premier League ticket prices is over, expert warns fans | first division
The era of frozen ticket prices is over, a leading football finance expert has warned, as clubs look to recoup money lost from rising costs and stagnating broadcast revenues.
Season tickets have risen at 11 of the 12 Premier League teams that have announced their prices for next season, with a 2% rise at Liverpool the latest to do so. generate anger among followers.
Only Crystal Palace has confirmed the price freeze, joining Arsenal, Brentford, Brighton, Burnley, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United, Sheffield United, Tottenham and West Ham. Liverpool in the increase in ticket costs.
Kieran Maguire, from the University of Liverpool, said clubs were responding to the cost pressures that have hit all businesses in recent years.
“Clubs have been affected by increases in fixed costs and interest rates, like any other industry,” he said. “Everyone else has passed these costs on to consumers. I complain about the cost of a jar of marmite, but I still pay it. But we demand higher values from football clubs than any other supplier. “We think they should act differently.”
The post-pandemic period has brought rising costs for many game-goers after a decade in which season tickets were often frozen. Before this season, Manchester United had not raised its price for 11 years and Liverpool had not increased its price for seven.
Fast guidePremier League club adult season ticket prices: what we know so far
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Arsenal: the cheapest £1,073 (from £974), most expensive £2,050 (from £1784)
Brentford: the cheapest £460 (from £419), most expensive £815 (from £549)
Brighton:
the cheapest £595 (from £565), most expensive £965 (from £800)
Burnley: the cheapest £352 (from £335), most expensive £520 (from £500)
Crystal Palace:
frozen cheaper in £545most expensive frozen in £895
Everton: the cheapest £650 (from £600, family zone cheapest at £555), most expensive £740 (from £690)
Liverpool: the cheapest £713 (from £699), most expensive £904 (from £886)
City of Manchester: the cheapest £540 (from £385), most expensive £1,080 (from £1,030)
Manchester United:
the cheapest to confirm* (from £551), most expensive to confirm (from £1,007)
Sheffield United: the cheapest £403 (from £380), most expensive £513 (from £490)
Tottenham:
the cheapest £856 (from £807), most expensive £2,147 (from £2,025)
West Ham: cheaper £345 (up from £310), more expensive £1,175 (from £1105)
* Manchester United have informed subscribers of a price increase, but have not publicly published prices for 2024-25.
“Between 2010 and 2019, retail inflation was low and first division Television revenues were growing rapidly,” Maguire said. “In 2014, the league's broadcast revenue increased 70%. In 2017 they did the same thing again. Being seen targeting fans when money falls from the sky would look bad.
“But domestic revenue has since stagnated, so how can clubs make more money? The price of merchandise has gone up and ticket prices are another lever they can use.”
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Maguire noted that after United increased their season ticket prices last year, it affected the club's results. “In 2011, the club's match day revenue was £111m,” he said. “In 2019 it was £111 million and in 2022, after the return of Covid, it was also £111 million. In 2022-23 it went from £111 million to £136 million.”
Other clubs, in Maguire's opinion, have looked at United's results and taken note. “People will raise prices because they know people are willing to pay them,” he said. “Liverpool could sell 80,000 seats at this price.”
While the commercial arguments pile up, the cultural importance of football means clubs will not be safe from criticism. “The basics of economics and business say that if you can sell a product at a certain price, then it is too cheap,” Maguire said. “Whether this is the right thing to do in national sport is a different question and if you believe in the idea that football is the opera of the working class then it is not at all.”
