Manchester United To Raise Season-Ticket Prices 14%

Manchester United Raising Season-Ticket Prices Up To 14%

English Premier League club Manchester United will increase season-ticket prices up to 14% next season, according to Daniel Taylor of the Manchester GUARDIAN. The biggest increases are in the lower tiers of the north and south stands, which will rise from US$1,329 to US$1,443, while the most expensive seats in the stadium will rise to US$1,671 (Manchester GUARDIAN, 4/26). In London, Oliver Kay notes the 14% increase follows a 12.5% across-the-board rise last summer. The Glazers, who own the club, “argue that such prices are already paid” by fans of Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, and that ManU tickets “have been and are undervalued.” Kay notes the latest increase “is more draconian than the strategy laid out in [the Glazers’] most recent business plan last summer,” which had this summer’s increase at 2.5%, “with subsequent 5[%] increases on an annual basis until the summer of 2012.” Kay reports the Glazers were “the intended victims of acts of vandalism” after ManU’s UEFA Champions League semifinals victory over AC Milan Tuesday, as an “angry mob” attacked a car thought to belong to Joel, Bryan, Avram and Edward (LONDON TIMES, 4/26).

MORE VIOLENCE: UEFA has fined both ManU and Roma “for their fan’s violent acts during the teams quarterfinal match” in Rome at a Champions League game last month. ManU was fined $30,000 and Roma was fined $60,000. Both teams have three days to appeal the fines (“GolTV News,” 4/25).