Virgin Media "is expanding its campaign to support football matchgoers across the country," according to Omar Oakes of CAMPAIGN LIVE. The brand is subsidizing "every away ticket bought by fans of Premier League teams for two weekends this month" to cut through Sky and BT’s "domination of the sport." It is the second installment of Virgin Media's work to promote "Twenty's plenty," the Football Supporters’ Federation campaign for lower ticket prices. Virgin Media Dir of Brand Communications Lloyd Page said that the company wants to be firmly "on the side of the fans." He said, "For us, success is about raising awareness of the FSF campaign and seeing lots of fans brought in from this initiative." Virgin Media is the headline sponsor of the FSF and also a shirt sponsor of Premier League club Southampton (CAMPAIGN LIVE, 4/6). In London, Anthony Hay reported supporters "will be able to apply for a refund by visiting Virgin Media's official website following their away day trip." Virgin and FSF will subsidize tickets for one away fixture per Premier League club and "will even reimburse the cost of a second class stamp after a supporter has applied for a refund" (DAILY MAIL, 4/5).
'REFRESHING EXCEPTION': In London, Ed Aarons reported FSF CEO Kevin Miles praised the scheme to "cap the cost" of Premier League away tickets at £20 ($24.93) for one round of fixtures this month and called on other sponsors to "follow suit." Miles: "It's a refreshing exception to see a sponsor involved with football genuinely doing something that benefits fans. Many commercial sponsors pay lip service to the idea of fans being crucial to the game but in supporting the FSF’s work around away fans in particular, this initiative sets a new standard for actually doing something in practice" (GUARDIAN, 4/5).
