Black Scarf Movement calls on Arsenal to "do the right thing" following FA Cup draw
26 January 2014
Today's draw for the 5th round of the FA Cup saw us given a home tie against Liverpool.
This game becomes the 7th and final cup credit included (and paid for) as part of Arsenal's season ticket. Following this we play the first knockout round of the Champions League against Bayern Munich, and as such the home game of this tie becomes the 8th 'credit' - meaning the cost of this ticket gets added to the renewal price of season tickets for 2014-15.
So in addition to the already-announced 3% price rise on tickets next season, depending on where your seat is within Emirates Stadium you'll have between £62 and £123 added to the overall price because of the Bayern match, which by rights would be deemed Category A in terms of pricing. Any more home draws in the FA Cup or Champions League, and even more gets added.
Given that our ticket prices are among the highest in football, we feel that positive, proactive action is needed from Arsenal. As we see it, Arsenal can make a real gesture that they acknowledge the financial pressures faced by our fans by doing one of the following:
Our preferred option
Arsenal make the Bayern Munich match the 7th cup credit. They make the Liverpool match Category B, AND they cancel their plans to increase all tickets by an above inflation 3% next season - especially considering the extra £2.8m income from the price rise will soon be less than 1% of the club's annual revenue and the fact that the club is sitting on huge cash reserves which haven't been invested in the team. Why would another £2.8m creamed from already suffering fans really matter?
We therefore call on Arsenal to do the right thing. Our Board has the chance to show that it actually DOES appreciate the financial pressures faced by our fans, and indeed fans visiting our stadium.
Finally, many fans will be aware that an initiative we suggested to Arsenal is a season ticket 'Lite' with no cup credits included; we said to the club that they should offer this as an option, given that an ever-growing number of fans are struggling to afford their season ticket renewals every year. This could see fans given the chance to buy a season ticket at around 25% cheaper than the price they currently pay, and like the League Cup if they wanted to attend any FA Cup or European matches, they'd get the option of buying their seat.
If Arsenal offered this to fans, or indeed made all season tickets cover league matches only (as is the case at almost every other club), the issue of this 8th 'credit' wouldn't even exist. Of course however, there'd still be the matter of how much the club would be charging Red and Silver members, and away fans.
Without the fans, football is nothing.
Up The Gunners
Today's draw for the 5th round of the FA Cup saw us given a home tie against Liverpool.
This game becomes the 7th and final cup credit included (and paid for) as part of Arsenal's season ticket. Following this we play the first knockout round of the Champions League against Bayern Munich, and as such the home game of this tie becomes the 8th 'credit' - meaning the cost of this ticket gets added to the renewal price of season tickets for 2014-15.
So in addition to the already-announced 3% price rise on tickets next season, depending on where your seat is within Emirates Stadium you'll have between £62 and £123 added to the overall price because of the Bayern match, which by rights would be deemed Category A in terms of pricing. Any more home draws in the FA Cup or Champions League, and even more gets added.
Given that our ticket prices are among the highest in football, we feel that positive, proactive action is needed from Arsenal. As we see it, Arsenal can make a real gesture that they acknowledge the financial pressures faced by our fans by doing one of the following:
- Make Bayern Munich the '7th' cup credit & Liverpool a 'Category B' match
The Bayern game was already scheduled before the FA Cup draw took place, and it would have been the 7th credit, had we been drawn away in the cup. As it now stands, the Liverpool game leapfrogs this. Both this and Bayern would usually be considered as Category A matches, in other words tickets would be set at their highest price.
Arsenal can allow the Bayern Munich match to remain as the 7th credit on season tickets, bearing in mind it was scheduled first. Even though Liverpool would usually be a Category A match, as a gesture of goodwill, Arsenal could make this a Category B match. This would mean instead of prices ranging from £62 to £123.50, season ticket renewals would see £35.50 to £71.50 added. Naturally this would also mean that all Red and Silver members attending this game, plus away supporters from Liverpool (who are entitled to 9,000 seats), would benefit from the lower prices.
As a matter of interest for those wondering what away fans will have to pay, as it stands Liverpool fans would be expected to pay between £62 and £93 for the FA Cup match. If Arsenal made this a Category B match, they'd pay between £35.50 and £54.
And let's not forget that last season, Arsenal set all home FA Cup matches at Category B prices. This season they changed it so that they could rake in additional revenue, by making FA Cup games Category A or B. Granted they recognised that a can of worms could have been opened when we were drawn against League One Coventry, and broke their pricing structure to make that a Category C match. - Continue 'as is' but cancel next season's 3% price increase
Arsenal currently receive in excess of £3m from gate receipts, for every home game. For FA Cup games ticket revenue is shared with the away team but even then, it will result in Arsenal taking more than £1.5m from the 5th round tie. Next year's price increase will result in Arsenal receiving an extra £2.8m in revenue.
As such, the revenue from this extra cup match will go a long way to covering the additional revenue Arsenal had budgeted for, following their announcement of price rises for the 2014-15 season. Given that huge numbers of Arsenal fans are (rightly) against next year's planned price rises, why not cancel this if the plan is to proceed 'as is' and charge all fans Category A prices for the Liverpool and Bayern matches?
Our preferred option
Arsenal make the Bayern Munich match the 7th cup credit. They make the Liverpool match Category B, AND they cancel their plans to increase all tickets by an above inflation 3% next season - especially considering the extra £2.8m income from the price rise will soon be less than 1% of the club's annual revenue and the fact that the club is sitting on huge cash reserves which haven't been invested in the team. Why would another £2.8m creamed from already suffering fans really matter?
We therefore call on Arsenal to do the right thing. Our Board has the chance to show that it actually DOES appreciate the financial pressures faced by our fans, and indeed fans visiting our stadium.
Finally, many fans will be aware that an initiative we suggested to Arsenal is a season ticket 'Lite' with no cup credits included; we said to the club that they should offer this as an option, given that an ever-growing number of fans are struggling to afford their season ticket renewals every year. This could see fans given the chance to buy a season ticket at around 25% cheaper than the price they currently pay, and like the League Cup if they wanted to attend any FA Cup or European matches, they'd get the option of buying their seat.
If Arsenal offered this to fans, or indeed made all season tickets cover league matches only (as is the case at almost every other club), the issue of this 8th 'credit' wouldn't even exist. Of course however, there'd still be the matter of how much the club would be charging Red and Silver members, and away fans.
Without the fans, football is nothing.
Up The Gunners
