Arsenal have confirmed that season ticket prices for the 2022/23 season will increase by 4%.
The club has held General Admission ticket prices flat for seven years, however, in light of pandemic-related revenue losses (set to be confirmed later today), the need to refurbish elements of Emirates Stadium and a general rise in costs, the board has taken the decision to pass on some of the financial burden to supporters as it looks ‘to return our finances to a break-even position in the medium term.’
The pain of the General Admission increase won’t necessarily be felt immediately. As a result of the cup-tie rebate (owed for the lack of FA Cup home games), prices for next season, whether we’re in the Champions League or not, will actually come down a smidgen in relative terms before increasing ‘properly’ for the 2023/24 season.
That’s not the case for everyone. Those in Club level will see their prices increase by between £125 – £255 depending on what competitions we’re in next season.
Given the impending National Insurance rise and the spike in energy bills that is on the horizon, asking supporters, who are the lifeblood of the club, to pay more, is never going to go down well.
The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust said the rise “is unjustified at a time Arsenal’s overall revenues are increasing and fans are experiencing other pressures on their disposable income.”
It doesn’t help that we already pay some of the highest prices in the country and that the team hasn’t been particularly successful in recent seasons. That we’ve literally been paying players to leave in recent years also underlines some of the financial wastage that has come with mismanagement on the football operations side of things. We should also point out that sponsorship and TV deals have increased a lot since prices last went up.
On the flip side, the football is getting better (you can be sure the sense of optimism strengthened the club’s resolve on this issue), there has been a clear drive to reduce player wages and existing and new schemes are in place to keep ticket prices down for young fans, away fans and those who attend League Cup games.
If you told supporters that prices won’t be going up again after this for another seven years, then I think many would still grumble but take it on the chin. That’s probably wishful thinking though.
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For more on the price rises, click here.
Sadly, the price of everything is going up at the moment. I’m not making excuses for the club but I don’t find this surprising.
Agreed, it’s the way of the world at the moment… only thing not necessarily going up are people’s wages to cover inflation and the cost of living….! From an Arsenal business perspective there is a long long line of people on the Season Ticket waiting list, so the Stadium will never be empty….
Das Kapital!
They don’t need the money, simple as that. There’s this wonderful rhetoric about solvency and financial sustainability and then when you look at how businesses actually work at that multi billion dollar scale, it’s all basically subsidies at taxpayer expense. They don’t need the money.
7 years flat is probably as good as you’re ever going to get… not good news, and the combination with all the squeeze on household finances you mention is jarring but the FA Cup rebate definitely helps soften it.
I’m not surprised. Inflation is probably the driver — 5.5% year on year and on average, 2% over that entire time period (2014-2022).
This might be an unpopular opinion but it is probably in line. It pinches though mainly because it’s on such a high base price.
How am I going to explain that to the guy who buys my season ticket off me each year 🙈
It is what it is, people need to make the right choices for themselves
Judging from the photo, it appears that everyone is quite happy with this news…
I think that, at some point, increases in petrol, electricity, gas, rail, insurances and inflation generally will impact on the ST waiting list. Seeing mis-investment and pay-offs is galling.
At the moment though, events in Ukraine just put football right down the list of important things in life.
If you can afford to go to football, go and enjoy it.
An injury time winner against Wolves and – hey presto – a season ticket price hike.
Alright, chill out, I’m joking, I’m joking……😉
How expensive are Brentford tickets?
Nothing. They pay you to attend.
You get time and a half for murdering ‘Hey Jude’ along with Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville at full time.
Double time if it’s against Arsenal.
4% extra to get a train there, too.
The hike itself wouldn’t be such an issue if they weren’t already by far the most expensive season tickets in the world – They actually are – not hyperbole…
They should take the cup games off the season ticket. When money is tighter, go to less games