Thetownend.com

Looking at the Metro today, there was a full page ad by West Ham advertising their upcoming game with Spurs, saying "lets make it the 12th sell out in a row" etc etc...
This struck me as a little unusual...but, biggest shock was the prices, adults FROM 49 quid and kids 26.

Now I know there is nothing new here and this has prob been the case for ages, but seeing it in black and white just got me thinking about it.

In these troubled financial times its fookin amazing that prem grounds sell out on a regular basis..
How high do ticket prices have to go before your average fan would say, fuck that?

I have a QPR supporting friend and I am sure he told that when they entered the prem the cheapest price rose to 70 quid.
Madness.

My mates went to see West Ham play West Brom when they were in the Championship and I am sure the cheapest seats were £36 back then which I thought was extortionate.

I too have seen that ad and was taken about by the price, but really, should we be surprised?

Lets be honest, £25 to watch League 1 football is way too much. The whole game in this country needs a review to sort out the financial side of the game.

DV's repetetive posts can get on my wick but when he says football is played on grass, not on a balance sheet is a cracking statement, sadly these days the balance sheet side is discussed almost as much, if not more than the football side. I had almost forgotten about our game tomorrow night!

I am not surprised at the prices, given the rise in palyers wages its kind of inevitable...what amazes me is that attendaces barely seem to have suffered..is noone else feeling the pinch from the inexorable rise in pretty much everything at the moment or just me?

Even arsenal aint that dear. I'm guessing that is a catagory a game and others would be cheaper.

Unless its Arsenal vs Chelsea which the cheapest seat was £62 which is fucking appalling.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-cheapest-matchday-ticket-v-1345537

arsenal double their prices for cat a games.

..and still sold out probably...seriously, would you pay 62 quid to watch a football match?

just qualfy that, a normal league game.

They didn't sell out that game, in fact they havent sold out quite a few this season.

Probably just as much to do with the standard of the team as it to do with ticket prices though 

not football admittedly but this irked me. i was looking at tickets to see Bruce Springsteen in Oslo soon, the chapest(!) tickets are £96.

£60 for the UK dates, so I'm afraid that's your 'living in Norway' tax kicking in. At least he plays for three hours, so you get two football match's worth!

The missus wanted to go to the Fleetwood Mac reunion tour in September until she found out the likely ticket price is £179.99p they can fuck the shit off.

http://www.stereoboard.com/fleetwood-mac-tickets

arsenal v man u spurs or Chelsea then yes I would. Those games always sell out and I rarely get the chance to though.

I thought the £62 im paying to see him at Wembley was a bit steep

Me too. Find it amazing people use Arsenal ticket prices to prove their point, when we were charging £25 for League Two football last season.

I thought I was paying £65 to see the Who  but after postage of £2.75 and a "Service Charge" of £8.75 its cranked up to £76.50.... :suicide:

The cheapest season ticket there is £985. If it were us, I'd be an armchair fan by now.

As a one off then maybe the price is bearable.

The price of football is ridiculous, but people still pay it and feed the cycle of clubs paying more to players who then demand more so clubs put the prices up again.

To answer the OP, I think you get a lot fewer people who go to pretty much all the games but pay on the day now.  People pick and choose which games to go to and I guess the clubs hope that there are enough of these people picking and choosing different games so that attendances are fairly stable.

In the Premier League especially there are so many day trippers to the big clubs that "football tourists" will pretty much pay whatever for a one off.

And Arsenal is a bad example, as their £62 ticket is the most expensive basic ticket, but they also have £26 tickets for the lesser teams.  You can go and watch Arsenal v Southampton at the Emirates for £1 more than most people at the County Ground pay to watch Town v Bury.

It's £36 not £26 but your point is generally right. Kids tickets in the family area are half that price but they sell out quick and are a limited amount. Other areas of the ground kids cost the same as adults which I think is wrong. Arsenals arguement is that they could sell them to adults for that price and they are right.

Their season tickets are for 26 games though - 19 league and 7 cup (domestic and european). Again, given the quality of football, the stadium and it being in London I don't think it's that expensive in comparison to our prices.

Well its a personal  opinion; 3 more games  for 600 quid and [cheap shot] they don't even win things :) [/cheap shot]

Joking aside, I honestly don't think I'd enjoy it any more. I can't imagine loving football any more other than moments such as Charlton away in the playoffs, Macca scoring at Northampton, dumping Stoker after a rollercoaster ride and seeing us promoted at Gillingham and lift the league 2 title.

Maybe a trip into Europe would be exciting, or the first premier league trophy. But then there is more hassle getting a ticket. Over commercialisation. Leech footballers, etc.
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I agree £25 for a matchday ticket is a lot though. Having said that, the price point is far less "exclusive" than it used to be.

According to their website it's £26 for Category C games, and £36 for Category B.  Then a monster jump to £62 for Category A games.

cat c will be league cup. A and B prem

Always amuses me watching the odd premiership game often on closeups of the fans there are groups of football tourists (appearing to look foreign) snapping away with their phone.

Not sure why I'm arguing this, as we're agreeing on the point above :D

But still, on the same page of the Arsenal website where they have the ticket prices they explain the categories:[url width=537 height=610]http://i50.tinypic.com/9titdk.png[/url]
League Cup games were £10 it seems.

The point isn't that Arsenal get unfairly picked on because of their Category A prices, but that football in general is costing more and more each season, but as long as fans continue to pay what is asked of them then the bubble will continue to inflate.  It's the same with Sky Sports packages etc which fund the all-important 'TV Rights' that keeps most teams afloat year after year until they get relegated and suddenly that fund diminishes significantly.

Interesting how Wigan is a cat B game with their awful away support whereas Sunderland/Swansea are Cat C.

Sunderland operate CAT A (man u, man c, arsenal, newcastle, liverpool, chelsea) CAT B everyone else....CAT B games are £26 for Adults in most areas of the ground with prices going up to £32 for CAT A games.

this was my original question really..where do fans draw the line on value for money. If football is becoming more expensive week in week out than (say) legoland or alton towers, surely you have to say, no thanks.

I'd pay more to watch Swindon, than Man U/Arsenal/Chelsea etc. I don't mean I'd pay £60 to watch Swindon, as I wouldn't pay that to watch anyone. I mean I wouldn't pay £20 to watch a prem team over The Mighty Swindon.

I've never got a ticket at arsenal for a league game for less than 32 quid at the emirates . They put them upto 36 last season. If they are doing them for 26 then that would mean they have cut prices this season. I aint been there this season but was under the impression they had frozen prices. Fair play for proving me wrong. I stand corrected.

That's why most people share season tickets for premiership teams its the only way your average person can afford it. I think the £300 I paid for mine in the town end is expensive for league 1 but I guess you pay not only for the league games but the first choice on cup games. Also its always nice to go to the footy and get friendly with all those around you kind of adds to the experience.

I couldn't take supporting one of the big clubs. What fun is there if your whole season revolves solely around how many trophies you win and how often. Supporting a club like Swindon you don't know what the fuck is going to happen next. You could get relegated or win the league. You could go out of business or find a rich benefactor. You never know when your manager will quit or who will be next.

But I still think the whole pricing argument is stupid. If you don't want to pay the money, don't go. No one has a divine right to watch a football match, even if they have been going for the last 40 years through thick and thin. Also still not convinced the PL is that expensive, how much would you pay to watch the top pop stars in concert? or for a world class meal? or to watch the ballet?

Sure it used to be a working man thing and you could get in to a game and get a bag of chips on the way home for 10p, but times have changed. Besides most of those complaining are hypocrites, they want their club to have the best players and to be successful, they buy the replica shirts, they get the Sky Sports subscription and then complain when they figure out the behaviour they've been encouraging for years is costing them too much money.

Its not a matter of not wanting to go Johnny, people are being priced out. You can argue supply and demand dictates price, I think it a shame.

Oh and a world class meal was £40 a head for a set lunch ;)

Yet a season ticket wouldn't have helped you see any of those games :D

lifting the league 2 title :P

went to old trafford a few years back and it could of been  buckingham palace , it is a proper tourist attraction  with  "fans" from all over the world coming just to see 1 game  and take photos but thats why they have such massive crowds cos that happens at every home game

Ballet? £31 to see Onegin at the Royal Opera House if you're interested ;)

Back when I used to go to Newcastle United games, I bought a £20 ticket for a cup game versus Blackburn and then £52 a small while later for the EXACTLY the same seat for the Tyne & Wear derby.

Ultimately, it was my choice. As long as people are willing to pay, prices will remain as they are/increase.

Just got back from watching Fortuna Dusseldorf v FC Stuttgart where we paid £28 for seats on the halfway line.The stadium was outstanding with food and drink kiosks all around the concourse.You could even take your beer to your seat There were standing areas behind one goal and for the away fans.Not sure of the cost too away fans but home fans were paying £17 and the ticket price also included your train fare from the city out to the ground.We have a lot to learn.The attendance was 45,000 approx

And the atmosphere?

out of interest was it alcoholic beer? Pretty sure at German matches we've been to its been non alcoholic.

Great atmosphere,away fans very loud and the announcers really get the crowd going.At the end of the match the Fortuna players walked all around the pitch to clap their fans finishing off dancing in front of their"Town End"Plenty of rock music played as well.Lager and Altbeer both very alchoholic but did'nt see any trouble