Season tickets to watch champions Manchester City this season are the cheapest in the Premier League, but the eye-watering cost of attending games in England continues to soar.
Despite the money from a record television deal pouring into the top flight of English soccer, fans are still paying through the nose to support their clubs, with ticket prices easily outstripping the rise in the cost of living.
The BBC’s Price of Football report on Wednesday analyzed the fan costs of 207 clubs — from season ticket prices to the cost of a halftime meat pie — with the results leading to further calls for a fairer deal for supporters.
According to the report, the average cost of the cheapest match-day ticket in the Premier League, the Championship, League One and League Two is £21.49 (US$34.23) — a rise of 13 percent since 2011 that dwarfs the 6.8 percent rise in the cost of living over the same period.
While Man City fans, who can still buy a £299 season ticket, might feel relatively well-off, Arsenal’s cheapest offering is a staggering £1,014, according to the report. Tottenham Hotspur’s cheapest season ticket is £765, with Chelsea third at £750. The average cost of the cheapest season ticket in the top flight is £508, an 8.7 percent rise since 2012.
Chelsea’s “bargain” match-day ticket will leave a £50 dent in your bank account, though Newcastle’s cheapest match-day seat is £15.
The cost of watching soccer in England’s top four divisions stands in stark contrast to the first tiers in Spain, Germany and France:
Barcelona fans can buy a season ticket for £103, compared with the cheapest on offer in England at Championship side Charlton Athletic — £150. French side LOSC Lille Metropole offer a match-day ticket for about £5, while fans can watch German heavyweights Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund for as little as £13.
Football Supporters Federation chief Kevin Miles called the cost of watching soccer in England “ridiculous.”
“We want football to be affordable for all. At a time when there’s more money in football than there ever has been before with the incredible television revenues coming in, it is ridiculous that fans are still being squeezed,” he said.
Premier League clubs will point to last season’s average attendance of 36,695 — the highest in the top flight since the 1949-1950 season — while attendances in the Championship also rose.
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