The top flight stands to make £7bn from the latest auction of TV rights, and should give some of it back to the fans by capping away tickets at £20 - By Henry Winter please log in to view this image Before the bullion from the next television deal is airlifted to the elite clubs, and then on to players and their agents, their tattooists and travel agents, the Premier League should do some shrewd thinking and agree to underwrite the fans’ campaign for a maximum £20 away ticket and also tackle the cost of home tickets for the 18-24 age group. Otherwise the Premier League risks further atrophying of atmosphere and a lost generation of fans, twin fears sure to be raised when the General Election hustings commence in earnest. Due to the skilful negotiating of Richard Scudamore and his team, the Premier League stands to make another fortune, beginning on Friday when the auction begins for domestic live rights for 2016-19. When the hammer finally falls on bidding, the Premier League could be raking in nearly £7 billion for all broadcasting rights, domestic and overseas, live and highlights as well as mobile rights. Not since Mickey Thomas decided to diversify has there been such a licence to print money in football – and this one’s legal. The Premier League is a slick commercial operation, seemingly beholden only to its owners and to its shareholders, but it needs to use its riches wisely. The players are the main talent, the ones who make the show so wildly popular around the world. Stars such as Wayne Rooney, Alexis Sánchez, Sergio Agüero and Diego Costa deserve to be rewarded handsomely for their central contribution, although more performance-related salary packages would be sensible, especially for younger professionals. But fans across the globe also tune in because of the spectacle, the backdrop of a heaving Kop, a reverberating Holmesdale Road end or the sight and sound of Manchester United’s remarkable away following. It is the theatre, as well as the show that attracts. When Per Mertesacker joined Arsenal, his brother travelled over for their away games, boarding a coach outside the Emirates because he was fascinated with the English fans’ culture. The Premier League must acknowledge the supporters’ role in its lucrative drama. “Away fans are so important,’’ said Michael Brunskill, of the Football Supporters’ Federation. “They are the lungs of the stadium. They add vibrancy to a match and the home fans bounce off it. We estimated that if you introduced our ‘Twenty’s Plenty’ initiative that it would cost £20 million a season. That’s £1 million per club per season. They are about to do a deal worth billions. The Premier League have acknowledged to us there was a problem with away numbers down.” The Premier League runs an Away Fans Initiative, giving £200,000 to each club each year to assist those on the road. Some clubs use the cash to subsidise away tickets which can cost up to £76. “Stoke City have been a pioneer of free coaches, opening up away games to kids, under-16s, under-18s, who might not have afforded it,’’ added Brunskill. Some clubs such as West Brom, Newcastle and Swansea have cut away prices on a reciprocal basis. It shows action can be agreed. It would be damaging for the Premier League’s image if clubs’ greed became an Election issue. “Both the Coalition and Labour have signalled their intentions that football needs to engage better with fans,’’ continued Brunskill. “If the Premier League sees a huge TV [revenue] increase and ticket prices still rise, it’s pretty sure that clubs and league will be in their [politicians’] sights.’’ The fabric of match-day life is being affected with more “tourists” [as traditional fans call them] attending games, buying the half-and-half scarves, there to experience the atmosphere rather than contribute to it. Clubs’ well-intentioned offering of pre-match entertainment outside grounds can also reduce noise levels as fans stay outside longer, arriving just before kick-off. Delegates from the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust, Newcastle United Supporters’ Trust, Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust, Spirit of Shankly [Liverpool] and Blue Union [Everton] recently joined the FSF for a meeting with the Premier League in London. They impressed on the Premier League that broadcasters want full, noisy grounds and unsympathetic ticketing prices prohibited that. They advised the Premier League that 90 per cent of fans polled believed home prices were too expensive. Premier League officials were polite but non-committal. They can afford to be dismissive, given the 95.9 per cent occupancy rate, and long waiting lists. Demand outstrips supply. Yet the support is ageing, relying on older fans who can afford the increasing costs. Grounds are quieter. Action is required. “There is a concern about losing a generation,’’ warned Brunskill. “It’s the 18-24 bracket. Some leave the concessionary range and are at university, doing apprenticeships or doing jobs with minimum wages and they are getting hit with the adult cost. It’s really high. They can’t afford it. Fans can go to a pub now with £30, watch the game live on a dodgy stream, and leave with a few quid still in their pocket. We want people to go to games. There’s also an issue with categorisation with fans of [Category A] clubs like Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea paying hundreds of pounds more a year because of the team they support.” His organisation wants all away supporters to be a blanket Category C, again reducing cost. “Prices are set by clubs and these clubs are due a huge cash windfall. The money [for tackling pricing] needs to be budgeted by the Premier League before it gets to the clubs.” That needs to be written into the contracts being decided on Friday. It’s time the Premier League did more for the fans, home and away. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...ns-campaign-for-a-maximum-20-away-ticket.html
Any reduction in ticket prices is positive. However I think the article and its aim are completely misdirected, by and large the away followings are often the most vocal parts of the ground, contribute most to the atmosphere and usually sell out. The problem is the home crowd, who often have to buy overpriced season or match day tickets which the 18-24 generation can't afford, introduce concessionary season tickets for say the under 25's in a certain section of any given ground and the atmosphere will improve immediately. Plus for the bigger clubs it doesn't matter what price the away tickets are, they will sell out to season ticket holders who then sell them on for ridiculous prices (a Man United supporting friend of mine paid £120 for two tickets to our game against them at the KC). Charge £20 and the average fan of these clubs will still have to pay more than double that to go to the game.
I completely agree, but it'll never happen. Clubs will leave ticket prices where they are as the demand is still high despite the cost. Sainsbury's wouldn't reduce the price of their goods because they've 'made enough money this year', whilst laudable it's also extremely naive, football clubs are businesses and the fans are merely customers. If Joe Bloggs can't afford to attend anymore then there's invariably someone else to fill his seat, PL football has been gradually losing the working man for the last 15 years. That's the harsh reality.
I hope your Manchester United supporting friend isn't from ?Hull. Does he support FC as well? Seriously, it isn't just the ticket prices it is the travel as well. Though things have altered in that respect. Despite all the complaints about the cost of trains in the early seventies it used to cost one and a half times the cost of admission for me to get a train to Hull. Now for a category A game it is one third the price of admission and still less than the admission price for a category C game. Which doesn't alter the fact that travel costs on top of admission make for an expensive day out. When I was20 when Terry Neill came here I went to every home game and virtually every away game. We used to go early and stay late and make a boozer day of it. Not too many 20 year olds could afford to do that now.
True. Top pop stars don't reduce prices because they are worth millions. The likes of The Stones, The Eagles, U2 etc charge higher and higher prices and still sell out.
Though that's obviously true and I'd welcome concessionary tickets for under 25's in the home ends, more than I welcome this, I think this is more about just stopping the disparity between the away ticket prices at different grounds. Having ticket prices ranging from £16 to £76 for an away ticket, depending on the game, is ridiculous.
Some of us have friends from outside Hull, strange concept I know (he's Salford born and raised if that puts your mind at ease). I agree with you its not cheap, but neither is anything else these days, football will never be what it used to be in terms of the demographic and relative cost, its changed and it won't ever go back. If you make a ticket £20 then your average 20 year old Southampton fan still couldn't afford to come the away game here and make a day of it, you could make it free to get in and they'd still struggle.
Which was the point I was trying to make. It isn't just the tickets. BTW, meant to put a smiley in to show the remark about your friend was in jest. Had to laugh in my local when someone I know came in and was supporting Man City who were on TV. Some blokes at the bar, Man Utd "fans" from East Yorkshire made loud remarks about glory hunters and jumping on the bandwagon. Really hilarious as the bloke was originally from Manchester and was on Man City's books back in the days of Bell, Lee and Summerbee. Played regularly for the reserves and even made the bench but didn't get a first team game. I remember him helping my lads under 15s team at the time in training. He was turned 50 then and they couldn't keep up with him or get the ball off him. Mind you, I am as guilty. Arguing football with a Leeds fan I asked what did he know about it. When he had gone someone told me he wouldn't blow his own trumpet but he kept Brian Greenhoff out of the England Schoolboy team and had signed professional forms with Barnsley but a serious injury meant he couldn't get insurance anymore and ended his career. Another one who though older and overweight used to control pub team games with his ability to control and pass a ball even when getting on.
Rather some of this money went to grass root football to help provide coaching and facilities for next generation players,
I knew about this call weeks ago. It's getting quite a lot of debate behind the scenes. The rights are going to rise, that's a given. Will that extra cash be put into the match day experience (ie ticket prices)? I hope so.
Even though it's a good idea, I can see the clubs resisting any outside attempts to influence their prices. The argument being that if the prices were too high, why are they selling out?
Do both, there's already too much money in the top players pot, they don't need any more; any rise in revenue, over the next five years, should be used to rebuild the English game of football, from grass roots to conference and include men's and women's leagues.
i also think the energy companies should reduce their prices. The bankers should have bonuszz stopped. Any MP should be sent to prison for 20 years for fiddling any expenses. etc etc etc
We need to restructure the whole concept of Football League, Football Association and club registration and membership. We need to invest in the future by means of facilities, coaching and pastoral care. we need to rebuild the status and integrity of those appointments who officiate at football matches, at all levels, including their ongoing pastoral care. We need to rebuild the core ethic of football so it can once again be a true working class spectator sport as an absolute minimum. You might think it is healthier than it has ever been, I do not.
