Are fans being priced out of the Premier League?

The Premier League continues to boom, breaking new ground in its popularity year after year. The 2022-23 season, when average crowds across the division topped 40,000 for the first time, saw stadiums operate at a new high of 98.7 per cent capacity.

Most clubs now have thousands registered on waiting lists for season tickets and demand they cannot hope to meet as a new, hyped-up campaign begins this weekend. Sell-outs are the norm.

Younger supporters have never known greater challenges in following their team, with prices climbing and availability diminishing. Elderly fans, too, are facing their challenges, with concession tickets under threat.

It all points towards the face of a Premier League crowd changing, with young and old both being squeezed. Traditional supporters increasingly face being marginalised.

Rule R8 of the Premier League’s handbook stipulates that concessionary tickets must be made available at every game for senior citizens and juniors but makes no reference to season tickets. Pricing and policy are ultimately left to individual clubs.

At West Ham, Tottenham and Wolves, adults paying full price are worth more to clubs than concessions, despite sitting on the same piece of plastic to watch the same game.

It also raises broader questions on the long-term direction of travel. Despite the 20 Premier League clubs raking in a combined £867million in matchday revenues during the 2022-23 season, they want to find more.

The Premier League’s polished veneer has begun to crack on this issue. Manchester City and Liverpool fans protested over price increases at the back end of last season, while supporters of Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Aston Villa have also made their unhappiness clear. At the latter, according to the Birmingham Mail, season tickets are now 91 per cent more expensive than they were 10 years ago.

The FSA’s AGM, held this summer, saw a motion for “co-ordinated action on the cost of football tickets” put forward by Spirit of Shankly, the Liverpool fan group, and seconded by others from Arsenal, Manchester United, West Ham, Nottingham Forest, Wolves, Manchester City and Bournemouth.

The answer to the question posed at the top of the article is probably, yes, and with demand exceeding supply (boosted by football 'tourists'), the problem is likely to get worse.