One of the specificities to which supporters of the English championship have become accustomed is the freezing of prices. Each season, the cost of stadium seats is fixed, allowing Premier League clubs to obtain certain loyalty from their fans. But faced with inflation, clubs – focused on their profits – have recently increased prices, enough to arouse the anger of different groups of supporters.
Faithful people who don't intend to let it happen
If clubs want to increase their profits, perhaps they were hoping to see the public follow the increase without flinching. With an average of 97.5% occupancy during the 2023-2024 season, the stadiums are very often well-filled. But if they continue to travel to support their team, protest movements begin to appear. Without disrupting the course of the matches, the expressed discontent is felt, with a message visible in several stadiums during the ninth day: « stop exploiting loyalty »understand “ stop exploiting our loyalty”. A message which should be more and more visible, starting next weekend.
Supporters of Premier League clubs indeed feel betrayed by the franchise they support. This informal agreement between the clubs and their fans was broken, without valid reason according to the latter. This increase in costs had not occurred since 2010. At the time, the clubs feared that they would no longer be able to count on the support of their public, already unhappy with this situation. Fourteen years later, the conflict could arise again, and, if it persists, possibly lead to fan strikes in protest.
“We've been here through thick and thin – don't exclude us by raising prices”could we read on a banner during the meeting between Leicester and Nottingham. Known for their great rivalry, the two clubs have nevertheless joined forces, each club brandishing its side of the message. Behind the Football Supporters Association (FSA), all the clubs are joining forces to rebel together against their clubs, and this increase which they consider unfair.
Increases that inevitably displease
More concretely, in a few figures, all clubs, with the exception of Crystal Palace, have increased the price of their tickets by an average of 7.5%. But many are affected by a much more significant increase, like the price of subscriptions which saw an increase of 24% at Nottingham Forest, in addition to a change in their general conditions of sale causing the price of the subscription to rise. subscription at 850 pounds instead of 190 (1,020 against 230 in euros). In addition to the amounts in the stands, the example of Aston Villa caused a lot of noise, with the increase in the price of parking spaces reserved for people with disabilities. An increase… of 100%, increasing the cost of these places from 190 to 380 pounds.
The examples of West Ham which no longer apply discounts to the elderly and those under 18 or 21 years old, or even Tottenham who have canceled all discounts offered to retirees in addition to the addition of 6% to the cost of places 6% a few months ago, show that everyone goes their own way to obtain more benefits. If this latest decision had greatly displeased Spurs supporters, other teams could also see rebellions forming over time.
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In their objective of obtaining a better profit, the clubs take the risk of being the big losers in this game. Having understood that they would scrounge up a few pennies in one way or another, and more and more, supporters could face these situations through protest movements. It is then possible to consider boycotts, which would cause the teams to lose more money. Having broken the price freeze may ultimately not be the right solution to adopt.
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