Football fans up and down the country spend hundreds of pounds every year supporting their team whether that be from the sofa at home, in the pub with their mates or inside the stands; there’s no hiding from the fact that it’s an expensive form of entertainment.
The cost of being a football fan is at an all-time high despite the average season ticket price in the UK being at its lowest price since 2013 at an average price of £654.
The English football fan pays a premium to watch the greatest league in the world as ticket prices compared to their European counterparts with prices being drastically lower with the average fan in Germany spending only £353 and in Italy spending only £634 a year with the average spend across Europe being £620 per season significantly lower than England.
The season ticket is the main contributing factor to the money spent by fans to ensure they get the best experience possible whilst supporting their team. The average price of a season ticket in the top four divisions is £344.76 for the cheapest categories and £603.78 for the most expensive categories.
However, there are many more things than just a season ticket that fans spend money on, increasing the cost of being a football fan with the average cost coming in at a whopping £1,052 for the hardcore fan traveling home and away all season long.
Pat (20) said, “When I’m spending upwards of £200 on the home and away kits and the membership every season before even including what it costs to get to the games is just ridiculous.”
“Ticket prices have gone through the roof, And stadium eateries are a joke.”
To get the full matchday experience many fans have to find a way to travel to the game, buy a ticket, wear the club’s shirt, buy food and drink in the stadium as well as the added extras of a matchday program and the cost of a subscription to be able to watch the rest of the football matches from the comfort of their home with the cost mounting up very quickly.
Lewis (19), a Liverpool fan, said: “I think it is a lot of money. Especially if you live far away. Ticket prices, transport, etc.”
“Football is a business so the higher the tickets are the more money they get. For example, tickets being £50. For two people it is £100 so it does add up if there is 54k in a stadium the club is making an absolute fortune every week.
“It is costly and you have to keep up because it’s the team you love and support but the cost is always going up.”
For fans that choose not to travel to games and instead watch from their home on the TV you’re looking at an annual cost of £569.80 to be able to watch every single game on multiple streaming services such as Sky Sports for £33.99 a month, BT sport for £15 a month and Amazon Prime for £7.99 a month
Fans of lower league teams do not have the luxury of watching every game their team plays live on Sky or BT so have to pay the additional cost for their clubs streaming services to be able to watch the games live with Sunderland and many other lower league clubs offering these kinds of services.
Last season a Premier League study found the average price a Premier League ticket is bought for is £32. It also found: 53% of fans pay £30 or less for a ticket and an average ticket to an away match costs £29.
Fans choose to spend their hard-earned cash on many things such as replica football shirts with prices ranging from £50 all the way up to £105 for the match replica shirts costing £48.81 on average in the top four divisions of English football.
The modern-day football fan really spends a huge amount of money every year to support their team with some fans feeling that clubs do not appreciate them enough but with the game only set to get bigger the prospect of fans being treated as customers rather than fans gets closer and closer every day.
Tuxtra spoke to two modern-day football fans about their spending habits when it comes to supporting their clubs.
