Arsenal not interested in reciprocal
pricing deals for away fans
17 December 2013
As we've previously highlighted, some Premier League clubs have given away supporters a helping hand this season by offering reciprocal pricing deals. Newcastle were the first to do this, with an opening offer that they'd price away tickets at £20 to those clubs who would do the same for their fans in the corresponding fixture. Since then, some other clubs have joined to agree the following:
These deals follow the Premier League's decision to put aside £4m a year for the next 3 years (taken from increased TV revenue) to help away fans. This means each club gets £200,000 per season and as we've seen, Arsenal have ensured that our travelling fans will receive a discount of £2.50 per ticket when we play away from home. Indeed, that decision from the Premier League followed a meeting between Chief Executive Richard Scudamore and supporters groups from Arsenal, Liverpool, Man United, Spurs and the Football Supporters Federation. We were sole representatives for Arsenal that day.
Liverpool's Spirit of Shankly have done further work on away pricing and the categorisation of tickets by Premier League clubs. They wrote to each Premier League club requesting that they enter into a reciprocal pricing deal with Liverpool in an effort to further assist travelling supporters.
Spirit of Shankly received a negative response from Arsenal, which can be seen by clicking here. This response skirts around the issues and taking two key points from Ivan Worsell's letter:
The letter goes on to get to the key point of the initial request, by saying "We do not endorse additional discounts over and above this". In other words "we have no interest in a reciprocal deal on ticket prices". So if you're an Arsenal fan, be content with the £2.50 you'll get off your ticket when travelling away; this is what the BSM helped secure for you, but the club won't be entering into any deals with other clubs while it affects their income stream.
Without the fans, football is nothing.
Up The Gunners
As we've previously highlighted, some Premier League clubs have given away supporters a helping hand this season by offering reciprocal pricing deals. Newcastle were the first to do this, with an opening offer that they'd price away tickets at £20 to those clubs who would do the same for their fans in the corresponding fixture. Since then, some other clubs have joined to agree the following:
- Swansea fans visiting Newcastle and Hull will pay £20 for an adult ticket and £5 for concessions. The same pricing will apply when fans of Newcastle and Hull visit the Liberty Stadium.
- Travelling fans from Newcastle and West Brom will both pay £15 for adults and £5 for concessions when their teams face each other.
- Liverpool and Cardiff have agreed to reduce the price of tickets for away fans by £10 when their teams face each other.
These deals follow the Premier League's decision to put aside £4m a year for the next 3 years (taken from increased TV revenue) to help away fans. This means each club gets £200,000 per season and as we've seen, Arsenal have ensured that our travelling fans will receive a discount of £2.50 per ticket when we play away from home. Indeed, that decision from the Premier League followed a meeting between Chief Executive Richard Scudamore and supporters groups from Arsenal, Liverpool, Man United, Spurs and the Football Supporters Federation. We were sole representatives for Arsenal that day.
Liverpool's Spirit of Shankly have done further work on away pricing and the categorisation of tickets by Premier League clubs. They wrote to each Premier League club requesting that they enter into a reciprocal pricing deal with Liverpool in an effort to further assist travelling supporters.
Spirit of Shankly received a negative response from Arsenal, which can be seen by clicking here. This response skirts around the issues and taking two key points from Ivan Worsell's letter:
- The pricing review referred to (agreed between the club and other Arsenal supporters' groups) did indeed make 90,000 seats cheaper for home and away supporters. These were for Category C games against opposition such as Norwich, Hull, and Carfiff.
What the letter fails to mention is that on the flip side, this review also saw seats increase in price for Category A games.
Therefore, referring to the Category C price reduction in a letter to Liverpool fans is completely redundant, as their fans will have seen the price they pay actually increase following the review, from £51 per ticket to £62. At the time we referred to it as the club giving with one hand for Category C games, but snatching back with the other hand, for Category A.
Added to this, following Arsenal's announcement of a 3% price increase from next season, Liverpool fans will find themselves having to part with around £64 for a ticket at Emirates Stadium.
Therefore the letter can talk all it wants about reviews and reduced prices, but in reality the price of a ticket for Liverpool fans will have risen by over 25% in 3 years, when next season comes around. - Arsenal did indeed support the Premier League's away fans initiative. However, this was something that all Premier League clubs had to adhere to... it wasn't something Arsenal chose to do in an act of recognition and kindness towards travelling supporters.
The letter goes on to get to the key point of the initial request, by saying "We do not endorse additional discounts over and above this". In other words "we have no interest in a reciprocal deal on ticket prices". So if you're an Arsenal fan, be content with the £2.50 you'll get off your ticket when travelling away; this is what the BSM helped secure for you, but the club won't be entering into any deals with other clubs while it affects their income stream.
Without the fans, football is nothing.
Up The Gunners