Smoke and mirrors at The Arsenal
30 April 2012
You would have had to be living on another planet if you weren't aware of the hoo-ha last year when Arsenal announced season ticket price hikes of 6.5%. Supporters already paying Europe's top prices, in the worst economic times in decades, with a team more or less in decline, having to dig deep and cough up even more money to go and watch their beloved club. Pay up or piss off. It was a step too far for many and although the club would never admit it, we were aware of a large number of fans calling it a day.
Since that point, as a group we’ve engaged with the club about how they can rebuild bridges and how they can offer benefits to loyal supporters, while of course retaining that much-needed income from ticket sales. Click here if you want to see the kind of things we’ve put to the club.
In February this year, the announcement was made by Arsenal that ‘general admission’ season tickets would be frozen in price for the 2012-13 season. A move we applauded, although with Champions League football by no means certain for next season (and this is still the case) many fans were left wondering if it could ultimately mean paying the same high price but swapping the most prestigious club competition for UEFA’s equivalent of the Carling Cup. In other words a price rise of sorts. We wait to see the outcome but fingers crossed the team can apply the right attitude and get us safely through our two remaining games with maximum points.
But while this move appeared to be the club recognising the value of its core support, price rises elsewhere have not gone unnoticed.
Club Level season ticket holders were hit with a further 2% price rise and to rub salt into the wounds, they had to renew by 10 April if they wanted to guarantee their seats for next season. In other words “give us more money, and hand it over much sooner. Pay up or piss off”. Okay so there’ll be some who would argue that those paying for Club Level tickets probably won’t be that hard pushed financially, but it’s still the club taking advantage of its fans. And without going too deeply into number crunching mode, it doesn’t take much to work out that just over 7,000 Club Level members renewing and paying up by April 2010, this is a tidy sum sitting in the bank earning interest for an extra couple of months. Not too shabby.
So with those two measures, the club (sort of) gave with one hand but took a nice chunk back with the other. Yet it doesn’t stop there.
Arsenal has a huge number of paid members in the Red & Silver categories. What do these categories represent? They mean you’re towards to bottom of the ladder behind Gold members (general admission season ticket holders) Platinum (Club Level season ticket holders) and the ridiculously rich bunch in the Diamond Club. Basically if you’re not a season ticket holder at Arsenal, you need to be a Red or Silver member to stand any chance of buying a ticket to watch your team. You also get the choice to pay extra for a membership pack, and of course this sense of ‘belonging’ may be fine if you’re a fan overseas with little chance of making the trip to London but ultimately, it’s about having the chance to buy a match ticket.
Older heads will remember that in the early 90s the club introduced what was then called the Ticket Registration Scheme. This was a membership scheme which offered nothing but the privilege of being able to buy a match ticket before a game went on general sale. A successful scheme with the bonus of a £1 discount on your ticket price – meaning over the course of the season if you made it to every home game, your membership fee was more or less refunded. As a member of the Ticket Registration Scheme, you also got priority for the ‘big’ games so there were plenty who managed to get cup final tickets in 1993 through this arrangement.
Nowadays as a Red or Silver member, you pay for the right to buy a ticket. No discount on ticket price – you give the club money just to be in with a shout.
Last summer saw the club apply increases to Red & Silver members (including Junior Gunners) ranging from 20% to 50%. Ignoring the membership pack ‘Full’ option, Red membership went from £30 to £36. Silver membership jumped from £26 to £39. In the grand scheme of things some would argue that £6 and £13 isn’t a lot of money, but in percentage terms why that hike? Let’s not forget, this membership gives you nothing except the chance to buy a ticket. No discounts on the price of a seat as the TRS used to offer. You pay just to be in the lottery, then pay again to buy a seat at anything up to £100 depending on the opposition. And even then, more tickets were made available to Red members, reducing the number available to Silvers. Yet Silver members were hit with a 50% price increase. Pay more, get less chance to buy a ticket. Is that fair?
Now comes this summer’s renewals and we hear that Silver members are being clobbered again. The ‘Lite’ version with no membership pack sees an increase of over 15% to £45 while the ‘Full’ option goes from £49 to £55. An increase of over 65% in two seasons and you’re paying £45 for the chance to buy a match ticket. Staggering, and you have to feel for these members as once again it’s a case of “Pay up or piss off”.
Have you noticed that there hasn't been any mention of the infamous ‘Arsenal Player’ to this point? The club always love to roll this out as an excuse – that members are getting this über spectacular online media extravaganza absolutely free. Wowee! Give people the choice of paying less for their membership or stumping up the cash to watch some interviews and listen to match commentary, and I know what many would opt for. Using Arsenal Player as an excuse, frankly, is weak.
The club is yet to announce matchday ticket prices for the 2012-13 season but there are murmurs of a shake-up in the offing, with a new ‘Category C’ being factored in. Apart from the opponent having the honour of being so crap that they’re considered Category C, you’d have to think that these prices will basically be what’s currently on offer for Category B – in other words between £35 and £70. The new category B matches will no doubt see an increase, and no doubt this will also happen with Category A. Let’s face it, the club won’t be dropping prices for this new Category C because if they did, they’d have to refund money to current season ticket holders.
So while we applauded the club’s announcement of a price freeze for general admission season tickets, we did say that we would be keeping an eye on what happened elsewhere. At the moment it’s very much a case of ‘give’ a bit with one hand but snatch back with the other. As much as Ivan Gazidis is used to stick positive spin on news around pricing, David Blaine he certainly ain’t.
There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors at Arsenal and it’s why we exist as a group. We will continue to work with the club and make sure they don't forget that core support can't continue to be taken for granted. A lot of this support has gone forever, and we don't want the trend to continue.
Up The Gunners.
You would have had to be living on another planet if you weren't aware of the hoo-ha last year when Arsenal announced season ticket price hikes of 6.5%. Supporters already paying Europe's top prices, in the worst economic times in decades, with a team more or less in decline, having to dig deep and cough up even more money to go and watch their beloved club. Pay up or piss off. It was a step too far for many and although the club would never admit it, we were aware of a large number of fans calling it a day.
Since that point, as a group we’ve engaged with the club about how they can rebuild bridges and how they can offer benefits to loyal supporters, while of course retaining that much-needed income from ticket sales. Click here if you want to see the kind of things we’ve put to the club.
In February this year, the announcement was made by Arsenal that ‘general admission’ season tickets would be frozen in price for the 2012-13 season. A move we applauded, although with Champions League football by no means certain for next season (and this is still the case) many fans were left wondering if it could ultimately mean paying the same high price but swapping the most prestigious club competition for UEFA’s equivalent of the Carling Cup. In other words a price rise of sorts. We wait to see the outcome but fingers crossed the team can apply the right attitude and get us safely through our two remaining games with maximum points.
But while this move appeared to be the club recognising the value of its core support, price rises elsewhere have not gone unnoticed.
Club Level season ticket holders were hit with a further 2% price rise and to rub salt into the wounds, they had to renew by 10 April if they wanted to guarantee their seats for next season. In other words “give us more money, and hand it over much sooner. Pay up or piss off”. Okay so there’ll be some who would argue that those paying for Club Level tickets probably won’t be that hard pushed financially, but it’s still the club taking advantage of its fans. And without going too deeply into number crunching mode, it doesn’t take much to work out that just over 7,000 Club Level members renewing and paying up by April 2010, this is a tidy sum sitting in the bank earning interest for an extra couple of months. Not too shabby.
So with those two measures, the club (sort of) gave with one hand but took a nice chunk back with the other. Yet it doesn’t stop there.
Arsenal has a huge number of paid members in the Red & Silver categories. What do these categories represent? They mean you’re towards to bottom of the ladder behind Gold members (general admission season ticket holders) Platinum (Club Level season ticket holders) and the ridiculously rich bunch in the Diamond Club. Basically if you’re not a season ticket holder at Arsenal, you need to be a Red or Silver member to stand any chance of buying a ticket to watch your team. You also get the choice to pay extra for a membership pack, and of course this sense of ‘belonging’ may be fine if you’re a fan overseas with little chance of making the trip to London but ultimately, it’s about having the chance to buy a match ticket.
Older heads will remember that in the early 90s the club introduced what was then called the Ticket Registration Scheme. This was a membership scheme which offered nothing but the privilege of being able to buy a match ticket before a game went on general sale. A successful scheme with the bonus of a £1 discount on your ticket price – meaning over the course of the season if you made it to every home game, your membership fee was more or less refunded. As a member of the Ticket Registration Scheme, you also got priority for the ‘big’ games so there were plenty who managed to get cup final tickets in 1993 through this arrangement.
Nowadays as a Red or Silver member, you pay for the right to buy a ticket. No discount on ticket price – you give the club money just to be in with a shout.
Last summer saw the club apply increases to Red & Silver members (including Junior Gunners) ranging from 20% to 50%. Ignoring the membership pack ‘Full’ option, Red membership went from £30 to £36. Silver membership jumped from £26 to £39. In the grand scheme of things some would argue that £6 and £13 isn’t a lot of money, but in percentage terms why that hike? Let’s not forget, this membership gives you nothing except the chance to buy a ticket. No discounts on the price of a seat as the TRS used to offer. You pay just to be in the lottery, then pay again to buy a seat at anything up to £100 depending on the opposition. And even then, more tickets were made available to Red members, reducing the number available to Silvers. Yet Silver members were hit with a 50% price increase. Pay more, get less chance to buy a ticket. Is that fair?
Now comes this summer’s renewals and we hear that Silver members are being clobbered again. The ‘Lite’ version with no membership pack sees an increase of over 15% to £45 while the ‘Full’ option goes from £49 to £55. An increase of over 65% in two seasons and you’re paying £45 for the chance to buy a match ticket. Staggering, and you have to feel for these members as once again it’s a case of “Pay up or piss off”.
Have you noticed that there hasn't been any mention of the infamous ‘Arsenal Player’ to this point? The club always love to roll this out as an excuse – that members are getting this über spectacular online media extravaganza absolutely free. Wowee! Give people the choice of paying less for their membership or stumping up the cash to watch some interviews and listen to match commentary, and I know what many would opt for. Using Arsenal Player as an excuse, frankly, is weak.
The club is yet to announce matchday ticket prices for the 2012-13 season but there are murmurs of a shake-up in the offing, with a new ‘Category C’ being factored in. Apart from the opponent having the honour of being so crap that they’re considered Category C, you’d have to think that these prices will basically be what’s currently on offer for Category B – in other words between £35 and £70. The new category B matches will no doubt see an increase, and no doubt this will also happen with Category A. Let’s face it, the club won’t be dropping prices for this new Category C because if they did, they’d have to refund money to current season ticket holders.
So while we applauded the club’s announcement of a price freeze for general admission season tickets, we did say that we would be keeping an eye on what happened elsewhere. At the moment it’s very much a case of ‘give’ a bit with one hand but snatch back with the other. As much as Ivan Gazidis is used to stick positive spin on news around pricing, David Blaine he certainly ain’t.
There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors at Arsenal and it’s why we exist as a group. We will continue to work with the club and make sure they don't forget that core support can't continue to be taken for granted. A lot of this support has gone forever, and we don't want the trend to continue.
Up The Gunners.
