Monday 5th February 2024
The following is a short submission to the AAB ahead of the next meeting on 6 February. It builds on the previous submissions we have made which can be read here.
Pricing for 2024/25: Freeze prices due to the additional European games We anticipate that the club will wish to increase prices but we believe that there is a strong case for freezing prices for the 2024/25 season.Arsenal will definitely play one more group game and quite likely a knock-out qualifying game in the group stages of the UEFA European competitions next season. This follows the decision to add an extra home group stage game and an extra knock-out round in both the Champions League and Europa League.The income from an extra group game will be the equivalent of a ticket price increase of around 3-5% depending on the match categorisation. Should there also be income from an extra knock-out round then this increase would be closer to 8-10% [1].
We strongly urge the club to be mindful of the impact of the rise in the cost of living on supporters and freeze ticket prices.
As you know, Arsenal are unique in the Premier League in having a season ticket also covering several cup games. Good prpgress was made last year with the up-front season ticket commitment reduced to 22 games.
We continue to advocate the introduction of a ‘Premier League only’ 19-game season ticket for those who want it. The 22-game option could also continue and of course ST holders, as now, must be able to choose to buy cup tickets on a match-by-match basis.
A 19-game Premier League-only season ticket would have two big advantages for supporters:
The move toward a smaller season ticket was greeted positively in previous discussions and we hope to see its full adoption for 2024/25.
Ticketing access: Filling every seat and comprehensive review of the ballot sales process
After many years of requesting that more was done to fill empty seats at the Emirates Stadium, we very much support the introduction of the ‘use it or lose it’ policy and the threshold being increased to 17 games out of the 22 on the current season ticket. We urge this to be fully applied (and publicised) at the end of the 2023-24 season so that season tickets can be reallocated to fans who will ensure that the seat is used during the season.
The process for buying general admission tickets for Arsenal games through the ballot remains a great frustration to many supporters. Following the last AAB meeting good progress was made on implementing some improvements and providing more transparency and we welcome the club’s provision of more information on the sales arrangement.
Arsenal have committed to publishing a full report at the end of the season. It is important that supporters, especially silver and red members, have full transparency of how the arrangements worked this season and understand the schemes they are paying to join.
This ticketing report needs to be made available in good time to allow for scrutiny and feedback ahead of decisions on arrangements for the 2024/25 season.
Touting – more work needed
We welcome the increased efforts by the club to address touting, but we believe that much more focus and effort still needs to be applied to this issue.
It greatly frustrates supporters to see tickets that have been allocated to fans, either via season tickets or membership schemes, appear on the secondary market at significantly increased prices.
Effective tackling of ticket touting requires considerable and sustained investment of both personnel and financial resource by the club, and we would welcome your reiteration of this commitment and plans to step up activity.
We cannot understand why the club still allows anyone to take out a new red membership without applying any ID verification controls. A policy that sees a red membership banned for touting on Monday but allowed to buy another membership on Tuesday is clearly defective and needs addressing urgently.
There also needs to be a sustained communication effort that includes providing more education to supporters of what they can and cannot do and reassurance that preventing touting is a priority. Actions should include:
You can read more of our previous work and submisisons on ticketing at the following link.
