Premier League clubs slash ticket prices amid TV boom

A record £8bn ($10bn) Premier League TV rights deal that took effect this season has led to a drop in the cost of attending top-flight football in the UK, a survey has revealed.

The average cost of the cheapest home ticket in the Premier League has decreased by 6% from the year before to £29.05.

The BBC Price of Football study looked at 224 clubs across Europe to work out who offered the cheapest and most expensive tickets and also how much UK clubs charge for pies, programmes, replica shirts, tea and away tickets.

For the first time since the survey's inception in the 2011/12, the average cost of an away ticket in the Championship came in higher than the average cost of an away ticket in the Premier League.

This is because the new global TV rights deal has allowed top-flight clubs to cap prices for visiting fans at £30.

"On their current £8.3bn deal, the Premier League could afford to let every single fan in free for every game and still have as much money as they had under the previous deal," Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters' Federation, told the BBC.

"That gives you an idea of the scale of the amount of money they have got."

North London clubs Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur offer the most expensive season tickets in English football at £2,013 and £1,895, respectively.

Hull City offer the cheapest at just £252 – a price that is lower than 88% of the cheapest season tickets on offer in the Championship.

Hull and Liverpool have the cheapest matchday tickets at £9, while Arsenal have the dearest at £97.

"We believe it's a positive thing that almost three quarters of ticket prices have been reduced or frozen. That's thanks in no small part to pressure from football supporters up and down the country," Clarke added.

"There is no room for complacency, however, with some Premier League clubs charging far too much for their season tickets and away ticket prices in the Championship being the most expensive in the country.

"We will remain vigilant and continue our campaigning to make football affordable for this generation of supporters and the next."