The announcement of the Premier League’s fixture list is usually an annual occasion of relative celebration, as football fans up and down the country are finally allowed to imagine and anticipate the important fixtures of an incoming season, while also signifying the return to regular weekly football is just over a month away.
But this year, the official announcement of the coming year’s football calendar was blemished somewhat, as a collective group of supporters, representing at least forty separate clubs, descended upon London and the FA’s HQ in protest to the English top flight’s continually spiraling ticket prices, despite the announcement of a new £5.5billion TV deal in sponsorship and footage rights to come into effect this summer that will further increase the revenues of every Premier League club.
In comparison to the other leading top flights in Europe, the Premier League trumps its competitors in charging the highest for the cheapest available tickets, with match-day tickets averaging at £28.50, and season tickets at £468, according to data provided by The Guardian. It’s triple the average of the Bundesliga, double that of Serie A and a small margin higher than La Liga.
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But it’s worth at this point mentioning what we actually pay for in England, which is often forgotten in the debate between how much supporters should pay in comparison to the profiting corporations, such as Sky Sports. In comparison to the other leagues in Europe, the Premiership brand guarantees a widespread level of quality throughout, which is yet to be matched abroad, that in turn assures that every fixture, whether between two middle-order clubs or two at adverse ends of the Premier League table, will be a competitive, exciting and unpredictable match-up – there are no definite or pre-determined results in the English game, and this is a luxury that foreign supporters are not privy to.
But spectators in England are beginning to feel that they are no longer getting what they pay for, with ticket prices increasing overall by 11.7% at the start of the 2012/2013 season, in comparison to the year previous, and one of the clubs to receive particularly specific attention on the issue is Arsenal. The Black Scarf movement have been protesting against the excessive expense of days out at the Emirates for some time, whilst earlier in the season, Manchester City supporters were appalled at being charged £62 per head to see their team play away in North London.
Overall, the Gunners present by far the most expensive prices for their season tickets in comparison to other Premier League clubs, the cheapest coming in at £985, which is not only £200 more than the second highest fee in the cheapest prices bracket (Liverpool, at £750), but also a significant increase on the vast majority of the most expensive available season tickets of other Premier League clubs, whilst Arsenal also have the most expensive season ticket overall in the division, at an outrageous £1,955, according to The Daily Mail.
It begs the question as to whether such an overzealous fee – regardless of the fact it includes ‘seven cup credits’ – can be justified as an acceptable about for Arsenal to charge their fan base. The London club’s two main points of rationale over the costs endured by supporters have been to cover repayments on the new Emirates stadium, in addition to the need to sign new players, but is that a good enough excuse?
You only have to look at this year’s final standings in the Premier League, or scour over tables from the past decade for further evidence, to realise that something is amiss. The Gunners have continually dwindled and declined, this season representing their fall from grace more than any other, yet their average ticket prices still vastly outweigh that of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea, who have lifted the Premier League title five times, once and three times respectively since ‘The Invincibles’ unbeaten domestic season back in 2004. Similarly, the excessive season ticket package at the Emirates may include seven cup credits for the auxiliary tournaments, but they are of little value for supporters of a club amid an eight year silverware drought.
Furthermore, are transfer fees, player wages, and the opening of a new stadium acceptable accuses? Such a burden isn’t placed so heavily upon the fan bases of divisional rivals, and overall, the Gunners have little to show for the amount of money they’ve taken from their fans. The club’s record transfer fee is set at just £15million, the fee paid to bring Andre Arshavin to North London, whilst the club’s wage bill of £143million is £50million higher than noisy neighbours Tottenham. You may argue that it’s the price to pay for Champions League football, but once again, what use is the European competition to the supporters, considering the Gunners have made it past the quarter finals just twice in the past 14 years.
There is no guaranteed correlation between business revenues and on-pitch success, but terms of cost-effectiveness it quite simply does not add up, especially compared to the Bundesliga model. In the German top flight, match day ticket prices venture between £10 and £47, whilst the average season ticket will cost a punter between £207 and £550. The difference is vast, but becomes even more embarrassing considering the Bundesliga’s two flagship clubs, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, trumped every major league in Europe this season by making the Champions League final an all-German affair.
How does such a division, which is gaining momentum every year in terms of excitement, atmosphere, quality and unpredictability, manage to survive financially with ticket prices that are a fraction of those in England? Quite simply, they place the monetary burden upon their corporate partners, rather than their supporters.
In some ways, this season presents Arsenal with an opportunity to redeem itself. The stadium is paid off, and as a result, Arsene Wenger has been handed a £70million cheque to spend on new recruits, that if spent wisely could push the Gunners back towards the Premier League title race.
But the question remains; why were the supporters charged with the bill of the Emirates, and not their corporate sponsors, such as telecommunications giants O2? Similarly, it will be difficult for supporters to forget that their donations to the club they support, made either once a year annually via season ticket purchases or on any particular match day, went towards the salaries of Arsenal’s overpaid has-beens, such as Sebastian Squllaci and Andre Arshavin.
The deadwood has been jettisoned, the Emirates stadium is now owned by the club with all debts paid, but we are yet to see ticket prices at Arsenal significantly drop. The Gunners are the biggest culprit, but they are one of many Premier League clubs who have undertook the trend of bumping up their prices.
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According to the Daily Mail, 10 per cent of season ticket holders in England will not renew for next season due to the cost, while another 22 per cent remain undecided for the same reason, as we all take another step towards becoming armchair supporters, watching matches in empty stadiums at home on our Sky Sports subscriptions.
Are ticket prices in England and at Arsenal acceptable?
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