Liverpool are set to increase their season ticket prices by up to 2% ahead of the 23/24 season, further putting more financial stress on the suffering UK public and perhaps setting a precedent for other Premier League clubs to do the same.
Higher-ups at the club stress that the price-hike was not an easy decision and it was only made due to the inflation and the changing nature of the nation’s economic picture.
However, there has been significant backlash from the club’s Supporters’ Board, who issued a statement saying ‘’To implement any price increase during this cost of living crisis is cruel, unjust, unreasonable and unfair.’’
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Executives Out Of Touch
Liverpool are not the only club who have or are considering ramping up their ticket prices, much to the chagrin of their supporters. In an age where energy bills and food costs are shooting through the roof, the public are showing increasing amounts of resistance to forking out yet more money to fund their favourite pastime.
Football is seemingly determined to price out the fans it claims to respect so much. As the game gets more and more outlandish with its transfer fees and broadcasting deals, us fans are left wondering why we should continually foot the bill and fork out the money for clubs who continually post about their revenues.
Though the inflation argument is valid, it remains questionable why official replica kits and in-stadium refreshments are not made cheaper to compensate for the pricier tickets. There has to be a compromise somewhere, and fans have every right to question why they’re always the first in the firing line.
Liverpool Statement
Liverpool Football Club issued a statement in response, where they said: ‘’The rise is a result of significant rising costs across the club. In the past five years, annual operating costs for Anfield have increased by nearly 40 per cent, and utility costs have gone up by 100 per cent this season.’’
The statement did at least try and justify why the price-increase was issued, but the vast majority of football fans will understandably find themselves jaded. Arsenal and Manchester United are also planning to increase ticket prices ahead of the 23/24 season and both super-clubs will hike prices up by as much as 5%, only to then spend hundreds of millions in the transfer market.
Football About The Fans
Football is about the fans, not the broadcasters. As the beautiful game continues to alienate itself from its glory years of terraces and cheap tickets, I can’t help but wonder what happened to the quintessential working man’s game that the entire world fell in love with. I can easily afford expensive season tickets, but there are millions who cannot.
For the club that prides itself on its supporters never walking alone, Liverpool’s executives truly look like they’re by themselves in thinking that charging their passionate fans more money was a good idea.
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