Tuesday 7th February 2023
Arsenal’s processes for reviewing ticket pricing and related ticketing issues has been much more consultative this year and we welcome that.
The AST has been involved in meetings with the Club to discuss their plans and provide input. We also submitted our own proposals. These are set out below.
Of course no one welcomes a price increase but we do feel that in holding increases to well below the rate of inflation, at 4% to 6%, and committing to invest extra funds to initiatives that benefit supporters that a proportionate approach has been secured.
Among the benefits being introduced that we specifically called for are:
- Increased resources to tackle ticket touting
- Reducing the number of games mandatorily included on the season ticket (this will help with both affordability and making more tickets available for general sale)
- Further support for young people with a further increase in their concessionary benefits.
Looking forward we will continue to make the case for; a Premier League only season ticket (for those who would prefer that option); a reduction in the charges for those using the Ticket Exchange; and to look again at what help can be given to the club's senior fans.
We have also been campaigning for many years for the club to take stricter action against those season tickets that are regularly left empty - ‘use it or lose it'. This is particularly important at times of such high demand. We are pleased that Arsenal have again confirmed this will be applied at the end of the season. Already the policy has encouraged greater use of ticket exchange and transfer services ensuring more fans can see games at the Emirates and it should result in a considerable number of seats becoming available for general sale next season.
Finally it is good to note that everyone who works at the Club is now paid the London Living Wage (LLW) whether they are directly employed or employed through a contractor.
ENDS
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The submission the AST made to the Advisory Board and Fans Forum is set out below:
TICKETING ISSUES: PRICING, ACCESS & TOUTING
The following note sets out some input from the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust (AST) that we ask you and the Board to consider ahead of further discussion on these items at forthcoming Arsenal Advisory Board and Fans’ Forum meetings. We have broken these down into three categories of:
However, we recognise there is overlap between these subjects.
Pricing: We understand the club will have experienced an increase in costs this year, especially in energy usage, but also note that the club’s income will be rising significantly through increased domestic broadcast revenues, further commercial deals and the return of both ticketing and broadcast revenue from European competition. We therefore strongly urge the club to be mindful of the impact of the rise in the cost of living on supporters and keep any ticket price rise for the 2023-24 season to an absolute minimum, noting that the headline rate of inflation is expected to fall shortly.
Should the Board feel it necessary to impose a price increase on supporters we would ask that specific attention is giving to investing the increased revenue into initiatives that benefit match-going supporters and the club’s staff including:
(a) further resources to tackle ticket touting
(b) further enhancement of arrangements to give young adult supporters cheaper match tickets, as we believe this has been working well and contributing to the improved atmosphere
(c) improving the ticketing processes to be more user friendly, plus investing in technology to keep out ticket bots.
(d) ensuring that everyone who works for Arsenal or its contractors is paid the London living wage
(e) investment into introducing safe standing
We note that the team’s exceptional start to the season has placed both the club’s ticketing sale arrangements and its membership schemes under great pressure. Demand is clearly outstripping supply – the AST now receives more enquiries about ticket access than any other subject.
Supporters express to us their frustration at the sales arrangements and subsequent anger when they then see so many tickets for sale on the secondary market.
We also receive many enquiries concerning the lack of senior concessions on offer at Arsenal compared to other Premier League clubs. While we recognise there are pros and cons to such schemes, we would welcome discussion on this topic.
Access: On ticketing access, we would welcome an update on the policy that was introduced this year whereby season ticket holders who regularly leave their seats empty and unused lose the right to renew that ticket. The adoption of this policy, which follows years of AST campaigning for it, is very welcom but it needs to be enforced. We expect that additional tickets that become available will be allocated to existing members, in particular to address the shortfall for silver members that has occurred as a result of the increase in season ticket numbers this year.
As you know, Arsenal is unique in the Premier League in having a season ticket covering 26 games. We propose that consideration is given to a ‘Premier League only’ season ticket. This would have two advantages: reducing the cost of a season ticket for those who prefer this option, and opening up a larger number of tickets for general sale.
We believe the time has come for a wider review of the workings of all membership schemes and their corresponding ticket access, and we would welcome the club taking this forward. This issue will require careful consideration and require full engagement and consultation with supporter representatives.
Touting: The increased demand for tickets has led to an increase in touting. It greatly frustrates supporters to see tickets that have been allocated to fans, either via season tickets or membership schemes, appear on the black market at significantly increased prices. There is also an issue with fraudulent tickets being made available for sale and we would like to see Arsenal step up efforts to address both these problems.
Although effective tackling of ticket touting will require investment of both personnel and financial resource by the club, we strongly urge that significant investment is made. This is important both to protect Arsenal’s reputation and the integrity of its ticketing arrangements, and to demonstrate to supporters that the club is on their side.
There are a number of areas for action that include law enforcement, stadium entry arrangements, ID verification, wider supporter communications and improvements to the sales processes. We will be pleased to feed our ideas and member feedback into specific working groups on these matters.
