How do Premier League Ticket Prices Stack up Against European Leagues?
After years of fans voicing their grievances over the cost of tickets to watch their beloved teams, many clubs in the Premier League decided to oblige this year and reduced the turnstile fees for supporters to watch a match.
All clubs also agreed to cap away tickets at £30 for the next 3 years to encourage more support on the road. The small savings have been welcomed, but how do prices at the English top flight clubs compare to some of the other elite leagues in Europe?
The most expensive club to watch in England is Arsenal, with a season ticket to the Emirates priced at £1,223. Hull City is the cheapest club to support, and the season tickets for the KCOM Stadium are £382.90.
Research from Voucherbox with travel expenses factored in has found that travelling to all away matches would save Gunners fans £183.10, but cost Tigers supporters £603.10 more. Languishing at the lower end of the table, Hull need all the away support they can muster, but at those prices many will find it unaffordable.
The cheapest single ticket for a home match in England’s top flight is to watch West Ham United at their new home, the Olympic Stadium. Tickets for a match start from as little as £15.21. Southampton have the cheapest away tickets of any team at £20. On the other side of the coin, a single ticket to watch Arsenal play is £53.37.
Some clubs in England are clearly trying to make themselves more affordable, whereas others are alienating certain sectors of fans. Clubs in LaLiga, the Bundesliga, and Serie A may be doing more than clubs in the Premier League to accommodate a range of fans with varying incomes.
A ticket to watch Barcelona at Camp Nou can be acquired for as little as £18, with the elite tickets going up to a whopping £275. Obviously the cheaper tickets place fans in the upper echelons and further away from the action on the pitch, but they still get to support their team for cheap, see some of the best players in the world in action, and soak up the electrifying atmosphere.
An outing to see the Italian champions can be attained for an even cheaper price. Tickets to the Juventus Stadium start at as little as £12.50 (based on the exchange rate at the time of writing) and the purchase of a season ticket would equate to each game being under £5.
Bayern Munich fans protested last year during their team’s Champions League clash with Arsenal. Supporters of the German team were charged £64 per ticket, an insurmountable cost compared to what they have to pay at the Allianz Arena. Tickets to the famous stadium in Bavaria range from £12 to £58, and season tickets can be picked up for as little as £67 per season.
With the new TV deal in place that sees the top flight clubs in England share £10.4 billion each year, fans will be hoping that the clubs will pass the savings on to the fans.
The teams in the Premier League needs to emulate these European giants or risk supporters watching the games at home.
