please log in to view this image Premier League clubs charging up to £600 for matchday mascot packages More than half of Premier League teams charge for kids to be mascots West Ham is most expensive, with their highest package costing £600 QPR and Swansea's most expensive packages cost £450 Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea are among clubs not to charge By SEAN POULTER, CONSUMER AFFAIRS EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL PUBLISHED: 22:30, 19 December 2014 | UPDATED: 01:25, 20 December 2014 Super-rich Premier League clubs are charging up to £600 for packages to allow youngsters to be mascots and walk out on to the pitch alongside their heroes. The high costs have been condemned by fans and parent groups, who argue the policy excludes children from less well-off families. The attempt by teams to cash in on the loyalty of young fans is just the latest evidence as to how Premier League teams are squeezing every penny from families. please log in to view this image For the clubs already charge extortionate prices for replica kit, while ticket prices and pay TV subscriptions are higher than in any other major football nation in Europe. Eleven of the 20 teams in the Premier League charge a fee for being a mascot, rather than giving the opportunity away to deserving children in the community. The majority of the mascot packages include hospitality places at the designated match, a free kit, signed footballs, photos of the day, match tickets and other benefits. The most expensive is at West Ham where it can be as much as £600 for the most attractive and high profile fixtures. Both Queens Park Rangers and Swansea City charge £450 plus VAT. The packages can be £425 at Crystal Palace, £400 at Leicester and Spurs, £390 at Stoke, £300 at Burnley, £265 at West Brom and £150 at Hull. At Newcastle United the corporate hospitality packages of £3,000-4,000 include mascot places. Some of these clubs do soften the pain, including West Ham, Spurs, QPR and Newcastle, by offering a number of free mascot places during the season through competitions and charities. However, others do not charge at all, including Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Southampton and Sunderland, according to the research by the Guardian. Fans took to Twitter yesterday to condemn the high charges and praise those clubs who give the places free of charge to deserving youngsters. Rossco wrote: âSo rich PL clubs charging children up to £600 to be a mascot for a day? Iâm quickly falling out of love with what once was a beautiful game.â Sunderland Stats said: âWell done Sunderland for not charging to be a mascot. Absolute disgrace that some clubs charge. West Ham £600!â Richard Keys the former Sky sports football presenter described the tactic as âdisgracefulâ. A blogger on the West Ham fansite Ironviews.com was also unhappy, describing the fees as âridiculousâ and âunjustifiableâ. A number of West Ham fans challenged the chairman, David Gold, to justify the fees. One took a swipe at the West Ham fan, Russell Brand, who presents himself as a champion of the downtrodden, suggesting he should boycott the club for âthis shameful exploitation of the proletariatâ. Clive Efford, the shadow minister for sport who is campaigning for fans to be represented on club boards, said: âI find it extraordinary that clubs which are getting so much money from TV rights then exclude kids from poorer backgrounds by imposing a fee. âIt means that a certain class of kids will never be able to be a teamâs mascot, and that doesnât seem fair when their clubs are earning so much money. It seems ridiculous that some will be excluded because their parents canât afford to put them on a waiting list.â Kevin Miles, the chief executive of the Football Supportersâ Federation, described the charges as âextortionateâ. âSo many of the trappings around football, like junior replica kits and mascot opportunities are designed to win a place in the hearts of children for the football club. It then seems counter-intuitive to make those things themselves extortionately priced,â he said. The Premier League did not comment. West Ham stressed it does offer some free spaces for child mascots in special cases. A spokesman said: âWe are committed to making football more affordable and offer a range of incentives to make it easier for young Hammers to attend our matches. This season we will be offering Kids for a Quid prices for six Premier League fixtures, where any number of Under-16s can attend when accompanied by an adult.â Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...0-matchday-mascot-packages.html#ixzz3MOjAph2Q Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
This is absolute rubbish. My daughter was a mascot for the R's last season v Leicester and we didn't have to pay a penny. She was even given a DVD for free with loads of photo's on it. Can anyone confirm that this has changed since we became a Prem Club?
9 ' s I looked at it for my girls a couple of weeks ago and can confirm prices are high. Was shocked at the cost so took it no further.
Think you got lucky, I tried a couple of years ago and was quoted about £350, couldn't afford it. I went to Wycombe instead and paid £120 but got full kit, photos, tour and match day tickets with it so was more than happy at that price. Interestingly of about 10 mascots there despite my embarrassment I soon found out at least half were also actually R's too!
I know that journo Ninesy, want me to have a word with him? My wife is big mates with his wife from schooldays, and I've met him a few times. I don't think he's a bad journo and has actually done some very good stuff on consumer affairs, but I think he finds me a bit tiresome as I can't resist having a pop at the Mail, and journos in general, on the rare occassions we meet (I'm usually on the receiving end of that kind of crap, working for the [alleged] epicentre of evil that is the pharmaceutical industry, so it's an opportunity I can't pass up). Having said that, looks like you got special treatment.
Not only are the quoted costs unbelievably high, but there rarely seems to be a match now without at least 5 mascots. I would've thought that this detracts from the "special occasion" feeling that the kids ought to be experiencing If we are to be serious about really building our support base ahead of a potential new stadium I would've thought that the club would want to be seen to be / actually doing whatever they can to encourage more youngsters to follow the Rs Then again, maybe the club sees this as vital to reducing our debt mountain
Took my son to be mascot for Greenock Morton couple of years ago - total package was £90 which included full kit, hospitality tickets for him and two adults, half-time drinks and food, on-pitch with the players for full warm-up, in dressing room prior to kick-off, and walk on to pitch. The kit this season is identical to our Nike one, so factoring in cost of kit at about £60, adult entrance is about £18 each, and the entertainment, it was a good deal. I've no issues with smaller clubs charging for this as they have to generate revenue any way they can, but to Premier League clubs this is a tiny drop in the ocean and would generate far more good will if this was free, either done by applying and having your name pulled out of a hat, or by giving slots to local charities/organisations. Funny story about when we took my boy as mascot - Mrs Monkey has no idea about football, and we were sat in hospitality. A very boring 0-0 at half time, so a couple of drinks at the interval, and we re-took our seats. After 5 minutes of the second half, the opposition scored and amongst the groans my wife jumped up and started cheering - after being told in no uncertain terms to "sit the f**k down" I found out she didn't realise the teams changed ends and she thought we'd scored!! Needless to say, she hasn't been back, and is constantly reminded of the incident ever since!!!
Sounds like you was one of the chosen ones Ninesy lad. Its very bad form that some Clubs charge for this activity. I heard of him alright but I can't say I'm familiar with his work Stan. I'm very fond of Martin Samuel. I think his articles are very good. Although he did one dreadful one a couple of years ago prior to an England - Ireland rugby game regarding some sh*t Paul O'Connell apparently spouted in a pregame dressing room and then crudely applying such sentiments to the Irish population at large. Everyone's entitled to an off-day though. What's the best paper in the UK? Guardian is for lefties, correct? Mail for righties? Is there one slap bang in the middle?
Telegraph for Tory blokes, Mail and Express for Tory ladies. Grauniad 'social democratic'. Independent not sure, haven't read it for years, think leftish. I read the Times, on the right and with the great disadvantage of being owned by Murdoch, but it has the best app with highlights of all the premiership games and they gave me a free Google nexus tablet when I signed up. The Sunday Times, which was a real pleasure a couple of decades ago, is now total crap.
SWP could perhaps fund our mascots and perform an ambassador role as Jude the Cat! please log in to view this image
