Arsenal have confirmed that general admission season ticket holders at Emirates Stadium face price increases of up to 6% when they renew ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
The club have also confirmed that should Mikel Arteta’s squad secure a place in the Champions League, the number of matches included in a season ticket will increase from 22 to 23 to cover the expanded group stage format of the revamped competition.
Taking some of the edge off the increase will be a small rebate based on the price difference between a Category A and Category B fixture. Arsenal had originally priced in one of this season’s UCL group stages matches being against higher calibre opposition.
All in all, price increases of 6% in the lower tier and 4% in the upper tier, combined with the additional fixture, will mean that general admission ticket prices will increase on average by a minimum of £103 per season ticket. By Arsenal’s estimate, it means the cheapest non-concession season ticket will be £1,073.
Club Level season tickets will also go up by 6% to 8% depending on where seats are located.
To ward off any empty seats, increasingly a rarity, it’s also revealed that season ticket holders will have to make use of their ticket for at least 20 of the 23 fixtures included. Those who can’t attend are encouraged to use the Ticket Exchange and Ticket Transfer services, which are now free of charge.
Arsenal held season ticket prices flat for seven years up to the 22/23 season but with the men’s first team showing improvement on the pitch and costs rising off it, they have begun instigating regular rises. In essence, prices will have risen 10 per cent in the space of 12 months.
It's worth saying that the club has had zero discussion to changes at their Fans Forum or Ticket Working group, which begs the question what's the point in them. Box ticking exercise to say to government that that have consultation??
— Darren (@DarrenArsenal1) February 19, 2024
While the club claims “extensive feedback and engagement with supporters” has taken place, Darren Epstein, the representative for Gold members on the Fan Advisory Board says: “The club has had zero discussions to changes at their Fans Forum or Ticket Working group, which begs the question what’s the point in them. Box ticking exercise to say to government that we have consultation??”
If that is the case, it’s very disappointing.
The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust have also released a statement that reads:
“We are disappointed Arsenal chose to reject our call for a freeze in ticket prices given the club will benefit from playing more home matches next season.
“Arsenal are guaranteed to play at least one more game in Europe next season as the Champions League and Europa League group stages are expanded. It could well be two more games with the extra knock out game being introduced. We had hoped that the extra revenue these games will generate would mean Arsenal could lessen the annual uplift.
“These proposals mean a supporter buying an Arsenal season ticket for 2024/25 will pay approximately 10% more than this season.
“This size of increase is unnecessary at a time when club revenues from broadcast and commercial revenues will increase by up to £150m over two seasons to exceed a predicted half a billion pounds during this current season.”
Arsenal’s line of defence appears to be a claim of “significant investment to increase the amount of concessions available to supporters in all General Admission areas of the Stadium”. Details on those concessions can be read here.
This is a shame and also doesn’t include the fact that the prices for food & beverages have also gone up this season.
I can understand the latter being increased due to inflation, where raw materials actually directly impact the cost of goods sold and therefore should be passed on. But in an environment where there’s a cost-of-living crisis, where the seats remain essentially the same, 6% rise hurts.
On an unrelated note, I don’t know if it’s just me but the markings on the seats are now so worn out, it’s difficult to know where your seat is.
Come on man, Stan and Josh gotta pay for that hunting station, they’re absurd ranches, of course their new stadium for the la Rams somehow, and don’t forget they were also forced to increase minimum wage at Walmart recently, can you believe that!? How can those poor billionaires be expected to survive with such extremist communism that doesn’t allow minimum wage to be frozen for eternity.
Very nicely written. And esp considering the fact that recession has hit Britain it is extremely cruel from the Kroenkes to pass on his losses to the end consumers (fans). If this was the States Stan would have probably used a T Shirt Gun & sprayed few jerseys in the crowd or a planned Celebrity Stunt to appease the fans. But such non sense doesn’t work in England.
Not that you could really compare the two, but for my local team in Sweden you pay roughly 200 £ for a season ticket (cheapest avaliable for an adult).
As someone in the US, I’m not a match-going fan (only been once back in Nov ’18!), but I just don’t understand the rationale behind the increases.
The majority of the income Arsenal makes comes from TV deals and sponsorships. What’s the point of wringing a few extra million out of the fans who actually go to the games? Not much benefit, but a large amount of avoidable blowback. It’s not like 30-40 years ago when matchday income was the biggest revenue generator.
Disappointing to say the least.
You think the Kroenkes got to be where they are through kindness and generosity?
Sympathetic Stan, isn’t that what they call him?
Just pathetic stan I think…
General admission prices are increasing for all supporters, not just season ticket holders.
Hopefully this means they stop selling a slice of frozen goodfellas pizza for a ridiculous amount!
I think that increased as well.
A chance to actually get a ticket would be a good thing, failed in the ballot again (starting to think I may have more chance of finding a unicorn) and still not eligible to get on the ticket exchange, it’s pathetic and bloody annoying.
You can only access tickets from the ticket exchange if its a game that you’ve entered the ballot for. I keep missing the ballots though and therefore locked out of the exchange for that game
I entered the ballot, got an email to say sorry, I’d failed and I’m still not eligible to look in the ticket exchange. It’s a complete fuck up.
Well my pay will increase a lot more then 6% if sky will do a netflix and stop password sharing …
Yeah not good but on one hand if the money goes to the club, we will need it to pay out players
On the plus side- I’m glad they’ve stopped charging season ticket holders for using the ticket exchange which was a major deterrent to actually listing on there. Why pay to sell your ticket when someone who never gets to a game would happily have incurred the extra £10 cost to get the opportunity to go to a game?
I would always offer my ticket if unable to go to someone who sits near me as resented having to in effect pay to not attend.
I’d be curious to know what sort of total revenue club expect to generate through such a step. Back of envelop calculation shows 40K season tickets all increased by 100 pounds means around 4million pounds which is not insignificant in itself but still represents less than 1% of expected total revenue for the year. There may be other ways to compensate such “small” amounts rather than gouging loyal match going fans who anyways have to spend even more on transport and logistics for each visit.
Fair enough. Cedric has to eat.
Football is so broken.
£105m for Rice.
Mbappe on £1m per week.
I used to pay £1.50 for entry at the junior gunner gate in the north bank.
I’m very lucky that I have a season ticket and I can afford this luxury. So I’m also complicit in this farce.
But football has been stolen from those who made it what it is and it makes me feel nauseous.
I’ve got my ticket stub from the Arsenal Spurs match in 2002, the game in which Henry slid on his knees of which i was the closes Arsenal fan! and the price on the ticket is £29. I’ve got slightly older tickets of the same period in the North Bank and Clock End that are £17. The rate of inflation has far out striped wages in that period. But if we’re going to be fair, for comparison tickets to the theatre, concerts or the cinema have also risen at commensurate rates. Cinema tickets can now cost £20 each and thats… Read more »
At least at the cinema they let you take in your own food and drink 😉
Hear you
Late 70s/early 80s I used to use my small pocket money for regular North Bank entrance @ 1.50 then 1.80.
Mind you I had a system for cheating the tube to actually afford the trip – parents had no idea I was going to games starting at 12 years old!
Btw not advocating fare-dodging, just being honest about my tween/teen ways. I had immigrant parents who wouldn’t have understood or helped me get to games.
I’d love to visit as a pensioner but the prices for Arsenal tickets are astronomical. I’ll get a second tickets for the ladies. They’re an exciting team as well and I can afford to take the grandkids to support the club I have lived for all my 70 years
Don’t feel so bad. Over here in Canuckland, the average price for a Toronto Maple Leafs ticket is around $300 CAD. So an Arsenal season ticket with exchange rate is about the same price as a couple weeks of TML games, and for that price you still have to watch the Toronto Maple Leafs. Geez…. (Go Flyers!)
Seems excessive but not surprising as cynical increases in cost are everywhere in this country now, just to keep up with the Jones’s.
Nothing like an excuse to bash the American owners, the only thing growing faster than prices.