Price freeze announcement
23 February 2012
Today Arsenal has announced a price freeze on general admission season tickets for the 2012/13 season. This is a welcome statement from the club, and one which we applaud them for.
As a group we've campaigned on ticket pricing and indeed issued a press release in January to this effect, which you can read here. Since then, both AISA and the AST have also made separate statements to the club, urging that no further increases are applied. We're pleased that this effort from all parties has resulted in today's announcement from Arsenal.
While we applaud the club for not looking (again) to their loyal fanbase for additional revenue, we do note that Club Level season ticket prices are to be raised by around 2%. Also there is the interesting point that no decision has been made on the price of general matchday tickets i.e. buying tickets on a match-by-match basis. Apparently an announcement on these prices will come towards the end of the season but reading into the statement today, you have to wonder if the club is planning to raise prices here. We hope that this won't be the case.
Given the team's performance so far this season and the threat of finishing outside of the top four, many fans have rightly been voicing their concern as to whether season tickets for next season should have the Europa League included in the overall price. As a group this is something we wouldn't want to see... firstly Arsenal actually ending up in this competition, and more importantly, the club charging fans full price if we did. We feel that should Arsenal be playing in the Europa League next season, ticket prices should be reduced as they already are for the Carling Cup.
Naturally if there's any mention of the Europa League by the club at this moment in time, it may be seen as a sign of resignation for this season and thereby invite a lot of negative press. Therefore we feel that the club is right in not making any announcement as yet, however come the end of the season if we do finish outside of the top four and in a Europa League position, something has to happen.
Many will be aware that we've already put to the club the idea of introducing a 'Lite' version of the season ticket, whereby fans are given the option of purchasing a season ticket with no attached cup credits. We still believe that this is a valuable idea which will provide our loyal fans with a more affordable option, and hope that the club introduce it when their ongoing ticketing review comes to a close towards the end of this season.
In summary, we applaud the club's decision to freeze general admission season ticket prices for next season, and we await with interest the full results of the ongoing ticketing review. We also applaud the work done by AISA and the AST in their campaigning on ticket prices, and believe this proves the worth of supporters' groups in working for the joint benefit of club and fans.
Up The Gunners.
Today Arsenal has announced a price freeze on general admission season tickets for the 2012/13 season. This is a welcome statement from the club, and one which we applaud them for.
As a group we've campaigned on ticket pricing and indeed issued a press release in January to this effect, which you can read here. Since then, both AISA and the AST have also made separate statements to the club, urging that no further increases are applied. We're pleased that this effort from all parties has resulted in today's announcement from Arsenal.
While we applaud the club for not looking (again) to their loyal fanbase for additional revenue, we do note that Club Level season ticket prices are to be raised by around 2%. Also there is the interesting point that no decision has been made on the price of general matchday tickets i.e. buying tickets on a match-by-match basis. Apparently an announcement on these prices will come towards the end of the season but reading into the statement today, you have to wonder if the club is planning to raise prices here. We hope that this won't be the case.
Given the team's performance so far this season and the threat of finishing outside of the top four, many fans have rightly been voicing their concern as to whether season tickets for next season should have the Europa League included in the overall price. As a group this is something we wouldn't want to see... firstly Arsenal actually ending up in this competition, and more importantly, the club charging fans full price if we did. We feel that should Arsenal be playing in the Europa League next season, ticket prices should be reduced as they already are for the Carling Cup.
Naturally if there's any mention of the Europa League by the club at this moment in time, it may be seen as a sign of resignation for this season and thereby invite a lot of negative press. Therefore we feel that the club is right in not making any announcement as yet, however come the end of the season if we do finish outside of the top four and in a Europa League position, something has to happen.
Many will be aware that we've already put to the club the idea of introducing a 'Lite' version of the season ticket, whereby fans are given the option of purchasing a season ticket with no attached cup credits. We still believe that this is a valuable idea which will provide our loyal fans with a more affordable option, and hope that the club introduce it when their ongoing ticketing review comes to a close towards the end of this season.
In summary, we applaud the club's decision to freeze general admission season ticket prices for next season, and we await with interest the full results of the ongoing ticketing review. We also applaud the work done by AISA and the AST in their campaigning on ticket prices, and believe this proves the worth of supporters' groups in working for the joint benefit of club and fans.
Up The Gunners.
