The cheapest season ticket at the Emirates costs more than the most expensive season ticket at any club outside London
They haven't won the Premier League title in more than a decade but Arsenal are in a league of their own when it comes to fleecing their fans.
According to the BBC's annual Price of Football report, Arsenal have not only the most expensive match-day tickets in the Premier League at £97 but also the most expensive season ticket at a staggering £2,013. Their cheapest season ticket is £1,014, but that too is the most costly in the Premier League - £249 higher than any other club.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
Indeed, for the price of the cheapest season ticket on offer at the Emirates fans could buy the most expensive season ticket on offer at Old Trafford and still have enough money for a replica Manchester United shirt and a few pre-match pints. And for the price of a good day out at the Emirates, a fan could buy a season ticket at Reading.
At the other end of the spectrum, the cheapest Premier League match-day ticket costs just £22 at Leicester City, while Stoke City boast the cheapest season ticket at a modest £294.
Overall, reports the BBC study, which examined prices at 227 clubs in 13 UK leagues, concludes that "the cost of watching football in Britain has dropped or remained the same for the majority of fans".
Among the findings revealed in the study were:
- Two-thirds of Premier League tickets were frozen or reduced in price this season.
- The cheapest match-day ticket in the Premier League costs more than £30 on average for the first time after 11 clubs increased prices in this category.
- The Scottish Premiership's cheapest ticket costs £20.17 on average after a 1.2 per cent fall in price. This is less than England's Championship and League One.
- In the Welsh Premier League and Irish Premiership fans pay less than £10 per match.
- Reading's £135 season ticket is the cheapest across the top four divisions in England, with only Conference side Eastleigh (£120) cheaper.
- The average cost of a replica football shirt is now £42.18 for adults and £33.78 for children. In the Premier League this rises to £49.68 and £38.42 thanks to a 4.82 per cent increase in the average price this season.
- The most expensive shirt is the £60 Manchester United number, while the £40 Bournemouth shirt is the cheapest in the Premier League.
- The most expensive pie in British football can be found at Kidderminster Harriers. It costs £4.50 but it has won awards for its quality.
- Birmingham City charge the most for a cup of tea at £2.90.
Asked to comment on the findings, the Premier League issued a statement in which they said: "Clubs are working hard to keep grounds as full as possible, with the past two seasons showing they are doing a good job with record occupancy at 96 per cent. This is borne out by the BBC's research that shows 70 per cent of tickets available are either the same price or cheaper than last season. However the BBC's focus on single match tickets is misleading as the vast majority - two-thirds - of Premier League match attenders are season ticket holders."
In contrast to the exorbitant ticket prices charged by the Premier League's top clubs, the BBC reports that it's possible to buy a season ticket at Bayern Munich for £104.48, which is "less than the cheapest available in the top four leagues in both England and Scotland". But even Arsenal can't match the season-ticket prices charged by Paris Saint-Germain: at £2,113.46 the French champions' season ticket is the most expensive in Europe.
