A Bayern Munich supporter’s group say that they’ll protest against the high price of football tickets by entering Emirates Stadium 5 minutes after kick-off when they visit London for a Champions League tie next week.
The German fans who have already bought the tickets, say this is to demonstrate what football will be like without fans when they’re priced out of the game and the atmosphere suffers.
FC Bayern Worldwide today released a statement, saying, “This kind of a price structure makes a stadium visit impossible for younger and socially disadvantaged fans. It destroys fan culture, which is the basis of football. In England, this development has already taken place.
“We want to protest at the price structure and at the same time changes in the stadia. We want to remind clubs and associations of their social responsibility and warn them of the effects, which we will all feel, both as fans and club officials.
“We express our support for campaigns like “20’s Plenty” from England and “Kein Zwanni” in Germany. Especially the developments in English football should be a sobering example.
“The first five minutes of the game in London will be, what future football will look like if this madness continues. Empty seats in the stands and no singing or emotion in the stands.
“In the following 85 minutes we want to show the alternative and show how fundamentally important a lively fan-culture is for football.”
It remains to be seen how the issue will be handled on the night itself, as this will pose something of a security issue for stadium staff, and whether it really will have any impact.
The only real way to protest against high ticket prices is not to buy them, and while any efforts to raise the issue of ticket affordability are obviously welcome by all football fans, the money is still ending up where it’s supposed to.
In 2014, Bayern Munich subsidised the cost of match tickets for fans travelling to London for a Champions League Round of 16 tie, selling £62 tickets for £37.
Those Germans make a bloody good point…
Picture the scene…
Arsenal two nil up after 4 minutes, and our fans are singing to the arriving Bayern fans…”We can see you walking in”…COYG!!!!
Imagine Bayern scoring (as unfortunate as it would be) and then having no fans to cheer the goal… The ball just hits the back of the net and then silence…
Why would anyone thumb that down? Internet knobs…
Arsenal fans should join them
I thought Arsenal fans protested in this way at every home game.
Will be pretty cool to see all the fans coming in late!
A great point really. Its funny though if after paying a high price for the ticket, by going late you then reduce its value further. Just saying.
Prices need to be better though. Good thing there’s the AST today eh? Should be on the agenda. Even if those at the top will just have to answer the question as they did last year, and the year before and before. Then they ll do next to nothing.
Fucking AGM
Nothing new!!!
Since entering Emirates, our fans have been doing this protest, but 5 mins before the game ends…..and have turned it into a competition of who can get home the quickest
*some of our fans
Difficult one this but it seems to strike the right balance between raising the profile of the problem of ticket prices and the fans still getting to see the game – well 85 minutes of it!
Hopefully we’ll kill the game before they get seated and then they just walk right out again. Or stay. I’m not their dad.
To the sound of all the Arsenal fans singing Should I stay or Should I Go.
Well played!
I wonder if this is the same Bayern fans who were holding the banner “Gay Gonners” last year with a cartoon representing Mesut. I don’t think that Bayern fans have lessons to give about cheering and supporting teams and being fair and blablabla.
That was just banter. All fans have banter. Ask Jenkinson and his dad
Hopefully we’re 2 up by the time they come in.
I think I know what you mean but it does sound an awful lot like sexual innuendo.
Germans in self-importance shocker….perhaps they’ll extend their campaign to include the high cost of summer holidays by getting their towels on the beds 5 minutes later than usual. At 4.05 am.
Or the high cost of German cars by not using them for the first 5 weeks after they buy one.
They’re gonna miss their first 3 goals 🙁
No they’ll miss Alexis’ hat trick.
You mean first 3 Arsenal goals I hope…
i’d love us to score at the 5th minute
So many fans turn up 5-10 minutes after the game starts anyway, no one will hardly notice!
Good point. And maybe the thousands of Arsenal fans who leave a Saturday 3pm KO 10 minutes before the end arent actually idiots but were protesting at ticket prices all along. No, no they’re idiots.
Well, they’re going to miss a couple of goals from Alexis!!
There is a basic gap in understanding here I think. Harsh as it may sound but we create demand and this is what pushes the price up. I think everyone here is wise enough to understand the basic tenet of capitalism: Supply and Demand. No matter how much people complain as long as there are enough people to pay for the tickets, the club won’t be having a problem. Economics doesn’t know emotion unfortunately and while we can say that we have enough in the bank to subsidise the tickets, Mr. Kroenke will step in and demand that we make… Read more »
Supply and demand is all very well but it works both ways. Of course, there is high demand for tickets among fans and the club control a finite supply, therefore they can put prices up, but the opposite is true too. Clubs have a demand for people to turn up and create a good atmosphere, and fans supply that. The more you price out younger and poorer fans, the worse the atmosphere becomes and the less appealing watching the game becomes for everyone. I think the German model has the balance right. If there’s one club in the world that… Read more »
Logic is nice.
I genuinely do not understand why some people are having a go at them for this. We are fans, not customers and should be charged a fair rate to see the team we all love. The Bayern fans are simply making that point clear, and are actually standing up for us when in many we should be doing it ourselves (not necessarily through missing kick off, but through larger, better organised protests).
I understand the frustration. but clubs are businesses at the end of the day and we are all consumers. They would like to maximize their profits. A balance would be to have higher incentives for fans who frequently attend the games.
Bayern are not a business. They are a non profit club owned by the fans. It’s not necessarily true that professional football clubs need to be businesses owned by some rich guy. Arsenal is what it is because of fans, and fans are not consumers.
I can not find anything on the ‘net to support your claim that Bayern is non-profit. Quite the contrary in fact. And 25% of the ownership is by corporations so it is not wholly owned by the fans. And finally, like it or not you are a consumer.
“The operating profit (Ebitda) was €95.6 million, 11 percent up on last year. Profit before tax rose to €22.5 million, with profit after tax also up significantly to €14.0 million, an increase of some 30 percent.” http://www.fcbayern.de/en/news/news/2013/agm-2013-new-record-figures-400-million.php
A football club is a collection of players playing a sport, and if they’re lucky they have a fan base. If they require seating and toilet facilities then there is an entrance fee to use those facilities. When the players are at a professional level the entrance fees are also used to pay the wages etc. It’s not a business in the way that Tesco is, with the sole purpose of making profit,it’s still about a collection of players and fans watching a game of football. It shouldn’t be so expensive and he ticket prices should be balanced if a… Read more »
Some of it seems to be about them being German. Very classy, that.
Some of it seems to be about wishing the world was made of chocolate and rainfall was really angels tears. Very stupid that.
Well, in German clubs initiatives by fans can actually achieve something, as they do have people who organise protests that get picked up in the media, as well as considerable bargaining power. I’m feeling a bit sorry for some of the English fans here now who are all “yes, it’s extortionate, but what can I do, I’ll pay it anyway”. And for those who go on about getting to see Özil etc., I think the Bayern fans usually get something in their stadium that’s worth their money too. Cheapest Bayern Bundesliga season ticket: 140 Euro, which means 104 pounds. The… Read more »
Let’s choose our responses carefully… We all know what they’re capable of….
Let’s knock a couple in before their fans arrive? Get on it Arsene please!
I’m all for lowering ticket prizes, but I constantly see the argument that if the prizes keep getting higher, the stands will be empty. Which of course is utter bullocks. They will be as high as they can be, as long as people keep buying them and there are plenty of people who will. I’m positive, that even with a 50% rise in tickets, the stadium would still be packed, or almost packed at every game. That’s how strong demand for Premier League football is. As long as demand is that high, so will prizes be. Although, by not signing… Read more »
Prices
we’ll b 3-0 up by the time they get in..
And who cares?
Supply and demand..google it.
Too expensive? Don’t go.
Next?
Capitalist pig
Stop whinging! We have these prices all the time. I have had to rent out my season ticket because I have two small kids and can’t afford to go. That’s my decision, someone else who can afford it has taken my place. It’s supply and demand and demand far outweighs supply so the prices go up. Deal with it. If you don’t like the prices don’t buy the ticket. I still watch every game and am every bit as much of a fan as someone with a season ticket. I loved going to games but my kids are more important,… Read more »
YEAH! Let’s buy tickets then not go! That’ll show them! wooohoo!!!
The key motivator for fans is enjoyment, the key motivator for the business leaders is a balance between fan enjoyment and profit. E.g. I heard that they managed to stop the major fighting at the international ‘war in a stadium’ at Albania this week by… You guessed it – piping in crap music to drown out the singing… I think this, and high ticket prices – which gentrify and age the fan base; plus seating only, setting back from the pitch etc. is a fundamental ploy to reduce atmosphere to the level where tension between fans is reduced. If violence… Read more »
Lets wallop Bayern in the first five minutes then when Muller and co. are all sad cause they have no fans.
What’s next I wonder?………….the “prawn sandwich brigade” staying in their seats at half time?…. in protest about the price of prawns? 🙂
Wish our fans could join this and make a really compelling argument.
Just imagine how surreal it would be.
Then maybe we can all start a petition. Or write letters to Dear Deirdre. I’m sure I’ve missed out some other self defeating, utterly futile gestures. Feel free to add them to the list.
the alcohol ban at UEFA games usually means that 10,000 or so gooners are 5 minutes late to their seats when it comes to champions league matches, so i rather fear that the bayern fans, whose aims i completely support, will simply be mirroring local habits
Lovely to see the word “stadia” used instead of “stadiums” which we have to listen to on Sky.
Fuck ’em. By the time they take their seats it’ll be ARSENAL 2-0 Bayern.
Have you not learned anything about arsenal. That is not enough 😉
Shit, you’re right. It’ll have to be 4-0 then.
Give them the ‘united’ treatment then. I.e. a good shafting
I hope they are 2 goals down by the time they come in; and as they are streaming in, the first sight is Walcott through on goal only for Neuer to bring him down, Penalty, red card. As the reserve keeper is warming up, he suddenly has a hamstring tear and one outfield player steps in. Coquelin steps up, the “keeper” saves but parries it straight back at him and he slots it in – 3-0…I believe!
Adam Smith up there is wrong. Football isn’t about supply and demand because, like any religion, the majority of us will eventually pay any price to follow our team.
The Germans are right and I for one am sick of selling my children into servitude just to watch Theo sky it from 5 yards.
Maybe you should put you children above Arsenal?
Selling your kids into servitude? Sounds like social services need to give you a call, mate..
Do get a grip…..,
Yeee harrr I oughta get Stan to up the prices even more. Don’t they understand they’ll be coming to see the most consistently punctual team in European football. Hell we might not always be awake out there on the playing field, but hell we bring a tasty competitively priced burnt burger and sweet beverage to the premier European competition year after year! yeeee haaarrr!!!
I was on the understanding that both clubs had to agree the price of the tickets.
I’m not certain why people find this so hard to grasp – they aren’t protesting *Arsenal* specifically. They are protesting the tendency of prices rising, as they fear German clubs (which are, as pointed out above, most of them run as actual clubs in which fans are members and have a say) are going to emulate British ones. If Bayern were to, say, raise their season ticket prices to any great degree, the protests they’d get would be on a wholly different scale.
As long as people keep buying, they will keep raising prices. It’s a simple concept, and from a business stand point, hard to argue with. There should definitely be programs or opportunities for youth and others to get cheaper tickets. To address the lack of atmosphere that comes with the true football fans not being able to get in, is a good idea IMO.
Can you describe what a true football fan is please? To me anyone that paid for their ticket is a true fan. You spent your hard earned money on your team. Can’t ask for anything more really.
I applaud ze Germans in this. How hugely embarrassing for the club. For a club who tailors (themselves mostly these days) as being class what a farce things have become and what an ongoing insult to the fans.
I can’t go to Arsenal anymore. I used to go down with 25 quid and scalp a ticket at Highbury. Shite seats but worth every penny. Now we live in an era of little success and crazy prices. There isn’t even a smoking area (bar the showers) and a team mostly filled with lovely, dignified mercenaries and the crop of British talent we have all seem to not be delivering on their world class potential. I feckin love this club but it’s getting hard to get excited by anything happening, rivalries are insipid and form inconsistent. When America take control… Read more »
What if they decide to delay kickoff until the away fans are in? It could lead to some Mexican style stand off.
Football fans are ripped off in this country compared to abroad we should support any stand against extortionate ticket prices
Read that on the front of big whoop magazine. Only ones who are getting ripped off are the likes me that pay £1300 a year. We still pay it so their protest means not a bratwurst
i grew up watching teams containing such football luminaries as Geoff Blockley, Terry Mancini, Ray Hankin and John Hawley. I used to gaze in awe at their ability to control the ball further than I could dream of kicking it. Now I watch Sanchez, Ozil, Cazorla and Ramsey. And appreciate that I have to pay to do so.
Ticket prices are ridiculous and people like me certainly don’t help the problem. I’ll be in London for the week of Arsenal v Tottenham and would have paid anything, considering it’ll be my first game watching live. Alas, can’t find a damn ticket.
It’s too late now for that particular game, but for the future, join your local supporters club (i.e., Arsenal Canada, Arsenal USA, Arsenal Indonesia, whatever). Foreign supporters clubs get a small allocation of tickets between the gold and silver levels. Deadlines to buy tickets are typically 8-10 weeks in advance of each home match. I’ve been getting my tickets that way for seven years now.
To the bloke above who’s upset about his £1300 season ticket … I pay about £1300 per match. I’d absolutely love it if I had the opportunity to see 26 matches for the same price.
IMO both sets of fans should do this.. and make it 10 minutes to really drive it home
They’re moaning about having to pay £37 for £62 tickets?
“Empty seats in the stands and no singing or emotion in the stands.”
No change there then 😉
“The only real way to protest high ticket prices is not to buy them” – not true, that won’t change much as there are always those rich enough to afford stupidly priced things, but the general fan will lose out and the crowd will slowly be more and more made up of foreign tourists and quiet, rich middle-upper class toffs.
Oh hang on….
Not buying tickets isn’t a protest it just allows the problem to escalate. Rich people will always buy these tickets, and not buying them only drives tickets into richer people’s pockets meaning nothing will ever be done. Protests like this are more than necessary.
Yes rich people are the enemy! geezus.
I hate Bayern Munich!
As an American, I don’t quite understand what the issue is with these ticket prices is. We pay comparable amounts to get NFL season tickets and the stadiums are still packed every game. Maybe we are just used to being taken advantage of…
Agreed. Similarly, NHL ticket prices in Canada are higher than PL football prices in England, and you have to pay for 41 games for a season ticket, not 19 (or 26, in Arsenal’s case). Whereas the top ticket price for a class A match at Emirates is £95.50, the top ticket for a Vancouver Canucks game is about £180, with no distinction for match classes. You pay the same to see a crap team that you pay to see the Stanley Cup champions. The Canucks still sell out every game. It’s also a bit disingenuous to refer only to the… Read more »
We pay a lot more in the states for NBA, NHL, and NFL tickets than what Arsenal charges. It sucks, but that is the way the world is headed. All the good seats are bought by corporations that use them on clients and such. Many times those seats go unused and are empty. Clubs don’t care, they got their money.
I’m an older (not yet OAP) Red member as is OH and we used to go quite regularly but we don’t go any longer. There’s no way we could afford one ST let alone 2. Even Red seats – £97 x 2 for 2 seats up in the top deck just isn’t doable. Many who do go are single visit tourists on a day out. Having tourists there suits the club just fine – plus they spend £££s more than regular fans in the club shop. No-one at the club appears to care as long as the seats are sold.… Read more »
Why should the club care? A fan is a fan. A filled seat is a filled seat. Who cares if they are “tourists on a day out” or someone that lives in London?