Arsenal Football Club are one of the largest and best-supported teams in the world. The Emirates Stadium has had the fourth-highest average attendance in the Premier League for the 2022/23 season. Nearly every Gunners game is accompanied by a full house, with an average of 60,175 spectators attending each home fixture, making it very difficult to get tickets.
For this reason, a season ticket is essential to watch the north London giants on a regular basis, especially considering that more than 75% of the Emirates’ seats are designated to season ticket holders, rendering ordinary matchday tickets almost impossible to get your hands on. So, how much do Arsenal’s season tickets cost, and how does this compare to other clubs in the Premier League? We will answer both these queries in this article, as well as taking a look at how much a season ticket for the Gunners would have set you back in the past.
How Much Does an Arsenal Season Ticket Cost?
Due to the current cost of living crisis, as business all over the country struggle to stay afloat amidst rising costs and energy bills, prices have risen in almost every sector. Because of this, Arsenal decided to increase the price of all their tickets by 4%, with the club releasing a statement that declared:
In the face of continued rising costs, we need to continue to drive growth in all our revenue streams – including matchday.
This was the first time the Gunners had raised all ticket prices since 2014 and meant that the average season ticket for the 2022/23 campaign cost £1,139, an increase of £44 compared to the season prior. However, there are a number of other factors that can impact ticket prices, which we will highlight below. It is also important to note that we are using the average cost of a full-price season ticket throughout, as the prices of individual tickets vary based on what part of the ground the seat is located in, and clubs usually have discounts for certain age groups.
Cup Tie Credit
Although Arsenal season tickets increased in price for the 2022/23 campaign, fans who had purchased tickets for the previous season actually received a refund of £75.33 from Cup Tie Credit (CTC), which made this season’s tickets cheaper overall. So, what is CTC? Well, a season ticket at Arsenal guarantees access to Premier League, European and FA Cup home fixtures, yet there is no guarantee that the club will actually host any FA Cup games, as this is decided by a draw.
Given that the Gunners’ entire 2021/22 FA Cup campaign consisted of a singular third-round tie, which saw them beaten 1-0 by Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, the fans didn’t exactly get what they paid for, FA Cup-wise. As season ticket-owning fans had effectively paid for matches that they didn’t get, they were reimbursed in the form of Cup Tie Credit, which they could use to lower the price of this season’s tickets. With CTC included, the average 22/23 Arsenal season ticket cost £1063.67, just over £30 cheaper than the season prior.
European Football
Another factor that affects season ticket prices for the Gunners is European football, as qualifying for either the UEFA Champions League or Europa League means more home matches to include in the package, increasing how much the average Gooner is charged for their season ticket. Below, we have put together a table to show how qualifying for different European competitions impacts the average price of a season ticket. It is worth mentioning that, for the 2022/23 campaign, Arsenal are competing in the Europa League.
| Competition | Average Season Ticket Price (22/23) |
|---|---|
| No European Football | £1,050 |
| Europa League | £1,139 |
| Champions League | £1,268 |
Club Level Season Tickets
If you’re a punter looking for an Arsenal ticket, but fancy a more luxurious experience, the Club Level season ticket might just be for you! Also known as Platinum Membership, this top-level season ticket involves guaranteed access to all fixtures at the Emirates, including League Cup games, which are usually paid for separately, and also offers various other perks, as well.
For instance, Platinum Members receive a complimentary programme and halftime drink at every game, a far better chance of securing in-demand away tickets, and access to a number of Member-exclusive events throughout the season, alongside many other benefits. However, as you may suspect, these do not come cheap! A Club Level season ticket for the 2022/23 campaign would have set you back an eye-watering £3,530.
How Do Arsenal’s Season Ticket Prices Compare to Other Premier League Teams?
Although the average price of an Arsenal season ticket was £1,139, it is worth noting that their cheapest possible package was £927, whilst the most expensive ticket cost an enormous £1,839. Hopefully it was a decent seat! With these sky-high prices, Arsenal had the priciest “cheapest” ticket in the league, and the second-most expensive “expensive” one. Below we have created a table to rank each Premier League club based on the cost of their most expensive season ticket.
| Rank | Club | Most Expensive Season Ticket (GBP) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tottenham Hotspur | 2,025 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 1,839 |
| 3 | Fulham | 1,050 |
| 4 | West Ham | 1,025 |
| 5 | Southampton | 999 |
| 6 | Manchester City | 980 |
| 7 | Manchester United | 950 |
| 8 | Chelsea | 940 |
| 9 | Liverpool | 869 |
| 10 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 860 |
| 11 | Newcastle United | 811 |
| 12 | Wolves | 786 |
| 13 | Bournemouth | 760 |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | 755 |
| 15 | Aston Villa | 752 |
| 16 | Leicester City | 695 |
| 17 | Leeds United | 646 |
| 18 | Everton | 625 |
| 19 | Nottingham Forest | 550 |
| 20 | Brentford | 549 |
As we can see, London teams dominate when it comes to the most expensive season tickets each club offers, with Premier League new boys Fulham perhaps being a surprising inclusion in the top three. Furthermore, only fellow north Londoners Tottenham have more expensive tickets than the Gunners, highlighting just how pricey Arsenal’s season tickets are, especially considering that their most expensive ticket costs almost £1,000 more than that of Liverpool! Mind you, given the football both have produced during the 2022/23 campaign (at the time of writing Arsenal are 19 points clear of the Merseysiders!), one might well argue the pricing has been fair!
How Much Would an Arsenal Season Ticket Have Cost in 1981?
We know how expensive Arsenal season tickets are now, but was it the same 40 years ago? Well, in 2014, talkSPORT decided to compare the current season ticket prices with how much they would have cost in 1981, to show just how expensive it was becoming to support your football team week in week out.
The Gunners came off particularly badly, with their average 1981 season ticket costing just £84, worth around £273 in 2014 prices. Considering that the north London side’s most expensive ticket for the 2014/15 season cost £2,013, this means that a season ticket for the Gunners was then around seven times more expensive than it would have been back in the 1980s.
It is no shock, therefore, that fans are so outspoken about how pricey season tickets have become. As more and more money is poured into football, many fans risk being priced out of supporting their team on a regular basis. It is all very well for the club to talk of increasing revenue streams and difficult times but the stark reality is that many fans can no longer afford to watch Arsenal.
What’s more, match-day income remains a relatively small portion of overall turnover for a side like Arsenal. In 2022, it was almost £80m, which is a sizeable proportion of overall revenue of £369m. However, those stats were skewed by the fact that Arsenal did not play European football, so lost out on considerable broadcasting revenue. With Champions League football surely set to return in 2023/24, it would certainly be nice to see Arsenal’s cheapest season tickets become more affordable.
A lead-in price of around £1,000 is hardly a steal, especially when for 2022/23, 17 top flight sides offered tickets for less than £600. If, for example, Arsenal was to make even 10,000 season tickets available at £800, this would be a great start. It might cost the club £2m-£3m … or, in other words, around 10 weeks’ salary for Gabriel Jesus! It is clearly achievable but we won’t be holding our breath!