New figures released by the BBC have highlighted a significant rise in football season ticket prices, but should clubs be asking so much from fans in the current financial climate?
The new statistics found football season tickets for the Premier League have increased by 8.7% to reach £508.55 from £467.95 in 2012.
During the same period the average household debt has increased to £521 per UK adult, according to figures released by The Money Charity, as of October 2014.
With 1000 people a day being made redundant between May and July, are football clubs in the UK asking too much of their fans and exploiting their loyalty?
The 2014/2015 season saw TV revenue increase a staggering 71% for the Premier League after it received £3.1bn for the rights to televise games.
This increase led to many fans, pundits and others demanding clubs reduce the cost to watch the sport, but it appears tickets have continued to rise.
When comparing the cost of watching a team in the English league with those in Europe it can make for surprising reading:
Cheapest Season Tickets
- Barcelona: £103
- Borussia Dortmund: £160
- Charlton: £150
- Arsenal: £1014.00
- Man City: £299.00
On average, match day tickets have increased 4.4% year-on-year which is triple the average cost of living for the UK at 1.2%.
Tell Us?
- Are football clubs exploiting fans?
- Should prices have decreased?
- Is this just the cost for having high quality sport?
- What can be done to reduce the cost of football tickets?