In February of this year the news broke of the new Premier League television deal, worth £5.14bn, a deal blowing the previous years deal out of the water. The new deal, which was an astounding 71% increase on the previous deal, had many repercussions, not least among fans’ discontent with rising ticket prices.
This week however, fans can take some solace in the fact that two thirds of Premier League clubs have either frozen or reduced season ticket prices. The Telegraph, who conducted the study, noted how supporter unrest may finally be seeing the fight against the tide starting to change for fans.
West Ham are one example of a club reducing season ticket prices in light of the new TV deal – and their new stadium. West Ham’s cheapest adult season ticket from the beginning of the 2016/17 season will cost £289, down from between £620 and £940 for the 2014/15 campaign.
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Manchester United froze prices for the fourth consecutive season and fifth time in six years, while Arsenal announced a freeze that also included non-season tickets for the sixth time in 10 years.
“Just because certain clubs are richer than others, doesn’t mean their supporters are”, Malcolm Clarke, Chairman of the Football Supporters Federation.
Chelsea meanwhile followed suit by holding the price of all tickets at the 2011/12 rate, while Liverpool discarded a planned increase in the cost of season tickets. Interestingly with Liverpool however, their fans are planning a boycott of the fixture away to Hull City next week, in light of an increase in the tiered pricing for Liverpool.
For example, Liverpool fans paid £35 for a ticket away to Hull last season, but this year it was risen to £48. Stoke City travelled to Hull City last year and only paid £16 – Liverpool fans are being charged extra because they happen to support an elite club. With the new TV deal, every ticket for every game at Anfield could be sold for £12 and the club would have the same money as before the deal.
The Top Flight
Liverpool supporter group Spirit of Shankly reiterated the need for the upcoming boycott: “We will hold a demonstration at Anfield to voice our displeasure at the disgraceful pricing of Premier League tickets.”
The three-year deal with Sky Sports and BT Sports from 2016 to 2019 means that all of England’s top clubs will be richer than ever before, with each televised match worth more than £10m.