Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, "has performed a major U-turn over its planned ticket price rises and issued a public apology to supporters who walked out of Saturday’s game against Sunderland," according to Andy Hunter of the London GUARDIAN.
The compromise that Manager Jürgen Klopp had called for "resulted in general admission prices being frozen" at '15-16 levels for the following two seasons, the removal of game categorizations and the number of £9 ($13) tickets being increased to 10,000 across a Premier League campaign.
In an open letter to the club’s fans, Principal Owner John W. Henry, Chair Tom Werner and FSG President Mike Gordon concede “part of the ticketing plan we got wrong” and that it was the strength of opposition to the proposals that forced the rethink.
They admitted in the letter, "It has been a tumultuous week. On behalf of everyone at Fenway Sports Group and Liverpool Football Club we would like to apologise for the distress caused by our ticket pricing plan for the 2016-17 season. The three of us have been particularly troubled by the perception that we don’t care about our supporters, that we are greedy, and that we are attempting to extract personal profits at the club’s expense. Quite the opposite is true" (GUARDIAN, 2/10).
LOUD AND CLEAR: The BBC reported FSG said, "Message received." Key quotes from the open letter include:
- "We have never taken a single penny out of the football club. Instead we have injected vast sums of our own money."
- "We were strongly engaged in the process to develop the ticketing plan for 2016-2017."
- "We believed... these increases were supportable even in the context of growth in revenues from the new Premier League TV deal."
- "The widespread opposition to this element of the plan has made it clear that we were mistaken."
- "We believe we have demonstrated a willingness to listen carefully, reconsider our position, and act decisively" (BBC, 2/9).
END TO CATEGORIZATION: In London, Dominic King wrote "another significant decision" is the removal of categorization from games, meaning that regardless of the opposition -- whether it is ManU or a newly-promoted side from the Championship -- supporters "will pay the same price to enter Anfield" (
DAILY MAIL, 2/10).
CAMERON TO EXAMINE PRICES: Also in London, James Riach wrote U.K. PM David Cameron "has been asked to meet the Football Supporters’ Federation" directly and discuss the issue of Premier League ticket prices following a formal request by the shadow minister for sport. Labour MP Clive Efford -- a long-standing campaigner for fan representation on the boards of professional clubs -- "has written to the prime minister and hopes a meeting with the FSF can be secured." Cameron promised to examine Premier League tickets after Efford raised the issue in parliament on Wednesday, recognizing there is "a problem" with pricing. Cameron told the Commons that "current costs are hard to justify." Cameron: "I will look very carefully at the suggestion the honorable gentleman [Efford] makes because I think there is a problem here when some clubs put up prices very rapidly every year, even though so much of the money for football actually comes from sponsorship, equipment and other sources. I’ll look very carefully at what he says" (GUARDIAN, 2/10).
TOURIST TRAP: The BBC reported FSF Chair Malcolm Clarke warned stadiums will be filled with "tourists" waving "half and half scarves and taking selfies" if ticket prices rise further.
The FSF "is meeting fans' groups to discuss further action, including a potential mass walkout across a weekend of Premier League fixtures."
Clarke said his organization wants to make sure top-flight clubs "really do deliver some sort of a package" to help bring down the price of tickets. A BBC Sport study "found two thirds of Premier League tickets were frozen or reduced in price in 2015, but there is increasing pressure for further reductions to follow." Manchester United Supporters' Trust Vice Chair Ian Stirling said, "Until there is collective action from supporters then the Premier League will continue to ignore calls for reform on such issues as ownership, governance, regulation and ticket pricing." Tim Payton, from the Arsenal Supporters' Trust, said a boycott was "very difficult" for fans, who want to support their team.
But he added, "There comes a point when you really have to send a message" (BBC, 2/10). The PA's Guy Aspin wrote one of the organizers of the tennis ball protest which disrupted Borussia Dortmund's cup clash at Stuttgart said that the atmosphere at Premier League grounds "has been destroyed by astronomical ticket prices."
Dortmund supporter Marc Quambusch, a spokesperson for the campaign group Kein Zwanni (No to 20 euros), said that leading English grounds "have become little more than tourist destinations" and branded Liverpool's decision to introduce a £77 ($111) match ticket next season as "ridiculous." Quambusch: "We are not talking about a once in a lifetime concert because Michael Jackson has come back to Earth, we are talking about an average football match" (PA, 2/10).
VOUCHER SYSTEM: In London, Matt Dickinson wrote ticket revenue from all away fans across the EPL "will amount" to £32M ($46M) this season. Peanuts, "in other words," across a division about to earn £2.75B ($3.9M) just in TV revenue "for one campaign." Leading EPL clubs "are pushing for a voucher system" to subsidize travel for away fans by up to £15 ($21). But why do the 20 clubs not just go for the easy -- and relatively cheap -- solution of a £30 ($43) cap on away tickets? Why "not buy the silence of disgruntled fans?" Why "not go for the simple PR victory rather than get bogged down in complicated talk of vouchers, loyalty cards or apps to subsidise travel?"
Those "are exactly the questions" that EPL CEO Richard Scudamore "will be asking those clubs holding out against the price cap as he seeks to find agreement before the next meeting on March 23," with club sources indicating that the £30 limit remains a "tough sell among a hard core." ManU believes that, on a point of principle, they "should not be told how to run their business." Tottenham has done all the arithmetic for its new stadium "based on projected ticket revenues, which did not include any price ceiling." The simple logic that its own traveling fans will gain on the road -- no longer having to pay £60 ($87) at West Ham, or £59 ($85) at Chelsea or £58 ($84) at Man City for the highest category games -- "is lost on some clubs for whom this has become an issue of control, a refusal to be told what to do by their rivals" (LONDON TIMES, 2/10).
