For Premier League elite, the sky really is the limit

Fulham's proposed luxury 'Sky Deck' at Craven Cottage which will open in December 2024

Alan Hudson, the former Chelsea, Stoke City and England midfield player, called his autobiography “The Working Man’s Ballet.” But some Premier League clubs are charging supporters far more than they would pay for a night out at Sadler’s Wells. 

And the fans are far from happy.

Last weekend Tottenham Hotspur supporters turned their backs to the pitch in the 65th minute of their home game against Luton Town as a protest against the club’s plans to remove concessions for new senior season-ticket holders aged 65 or over next season, and reduce the discount for those already holding such concessions.

Manchester City’s 1894 Group of supporters held up a banner before kick-off in their home game against Arsenal reading: “Record profits but record prices. Stop exploiting our loyalty.” City responded by removing the group’s accreditation for the midweek home game against Aston Villa, so their protests clearly hit a nerve.

The point about record profits was well made. City are the world’s second-richest club according to Deloitte, with revenues of around £706m last season. Yet they felt the need to increase season-ticket prices by an average of five percent this season.

Tottenham are the eighth-richest, bringing in around £540 million, perhaps partly because their season tickets are the second-most-expensive in the Premier League, their cheapest at £807 and most expensive at £2,025. In the circumstances, did they really need to make pensioners pay more?

Arsenal, another member of the rich list top ten, will also remove the concession for new senior season tickets from next season — so as to operate, they said, “in the most financially sustainable way possible”. Tottenham mentioned increases in prices of “utilities, rates and consumables”.

Why is such eye-watering wealth, backed by oil-rich nations, doing this? Some cite pressure from the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules, which have already imposed points deductions on Everton and Nottingham Forest, and which will force Chelsea and possibly others to increase income relative to outgoings before the end of June. City, of course, face over 100 charges that they breached financial rules.

Fulham's proposed luxury 'Sky Deck' at Craven Cottage which will open in December 2024

So the present rises may only be the beginning. Arsenal plan to hike all season-ticket prices next season by between 4 to 6 per cent, which will bring in an extra £2 million extra per year. That, though, is a drop in the ocean for a club with a a 2022-23 turnover of £455 million. According to Deloitte, match-day takings account for only 18 per cent of revenue for the world’s 20 richest clubs, far less than commercial (42 percent) and broadcast (40 percent).

Fans had better brace themselves. For as Profit and Sustainability Rules begin to bite, much bigger revenue streams will have to be unlocked to counterbalance the need to pay star players and their agents over the odds.

Clubs at every level are already monetising their stadiums more efficiently than in the past. Look up at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium hours before a game and notice the bustling hospitality lounges that Highbury could never accommodate. But that is clearly not enough these days.

Fulham are pushing the envelope further than most in their new £120m Riverside Stand. Craven Cottage, once that most homely of football grounds, now boasts a “Sky Deck” terrace overlooking the Thames, complete with a cocktail bar and swimming pool.

Fans who were moved during the rebuilding will find their old seats have risen in price by 200 percent. A platinum season ticket in the new stand will set you back £3000, the most expensive non-hospitality ticket in the country. But adult season tickets everywhere at Craven Cottage are up by 18 per cent this season and juniors’ by 58 per cent - “draconian” according to the Fulham Supporters’ Trust.

Even clubs without new luxury stands to bankroll - or an entire new stadium in Spurs’ case - expect the fans to shell out more and more. Season-ticket prices went up this season at 17 of the 20 Premier League clubs. You could now pay over £1,000 for a season ticket at Arsenal, Tottenham, Newcastle United, West Ham, and the two Manchester clubs as well as Fulham.

It is not just ticket prices, of course. Replica shirts and other branded club shop merchandise, match programmes and match day catering are all going up. And by “catering” we no longer mean the traditional cup of stewed tea and Wagon Wheel.

Even the Old Trafford prawn sandwiches that Roy Keane once dismissed so witheringly would not pass muster in these days of fine dining at football grounds. Corporate clients are willing and able to pay over the odds for lavish pre-match hospitality in lounges “hosted” by former players and the clubs are very happy to offer these experiences where space allows.

And when it does not, they will find it. Brighton have annoyed football writers and radio reporters by kicking them out of part of the Amex Stadium press box and replacing their desks with premium ‘Tunnel Club’ seats.

Fulham's proposed luxury 'Sky Deck' at Craven Cottage which will open in December 2024

Why? Simple. Tunnel Club members pay £8,950 per season - for a minimum of three seasons, plus a founding member’s fee of £2,500 - to eat and drink in style in a lounge with views of the players’ tunnel, so they are entitled to the best seats.

But as well as these wealthy regulars, some clubs are targeting the casual visitor who is willing to stump up serious money to attend An Event. You know the type of thing, darling: Glyndebourne on Friday, Royal Ascot on Saturday and Anfield on Sunday.

So Liverpool keep the number of season-tickets available well below demand, while Fulham actively promote their club as a destination for out-of-towners and international fans looking for the authentic premier League experience.

Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou has said that “This club has supporters all over the world that don’t always get access to the games and we should always have the ability to accommodate them.” 

The catch is obvious: global fans love the Premier League for its passion, atmosphere and fierce rivalries. But a wealthier audience of casual fans is not a raucous crowd and a balance needs to be found between maximising profitability at the risk of pricing out long-standing fans and retaining everything that makes the competition what it is.

Meanwhile it seems that those loyal fans will just have to get used to paying more and possibly finding strangers occupying nearby seats rather than the friends they have made over the years.

The Professional Footballers’ Association [PFA] once paid £1.9m for the L S Lowry painting “Going To The Match,” which depicts a football ground as the centre of a community. A 2024 version would no doubt be called “Preparing to Sample The Match Day Experience.” 

But would anybody want to buy it?