Why Are Premier League Tickets Harder To Get Than Ever?

England's top-flight football league is in rude health. According to figures released by the Premier League in 2024/25, 99% of seats were filled across the competition in the first half of the season.

This sums up the remarkable appetite for Premier League football, especially when teams will always be in the relegation doldrums or lodged in the mid-table, where attendance might be lower.

Even club members with paid subscriptions struggle to secure tickets as Premier League stadiums fill up week after week. With the help of insights on Premier League tickets from Ticket Compare, let's explore the league's incredible popularity and what it means to get hold of seats.

A Slick Juggernaut with International Appeal

The Premier League's global reach is well documented. Every week, matches are broadcast into some 900 million homes across 190 countries.

On the pitch, as of 2024/25, the Premier League has produced six Champions League finalists in the last six seasons, with three winners. Individually, ten of the 30 Ballon d'Or finalists in 2024 were Premier League players, the highest total of any league.

New stars arrive in the Premier League every transfer window. In the summer of 2024, Premier League clubs maintained their record-breaking spending habits, investing £2.08bn in new players—more than any other league.

Though it was slightly less than the £2.44bn spent in 2023, it was double the outlay of Serie A (£1bn), the next biggest spenders, and comfortably exceeded La Liga and the Bundesliga.

This lavish spending by Premier League clubs is funded by the world's largest television rights deal, at £1.675bn a season. This is in stark comparison to the Bundesliga's £0.95bn, the next most lucrative contract, despite the fact it was announced a year earlier.

It all adds up to a soaring level of international interest. In 2019, 1.5 million inbound visitors to the UK went to a live football match, accounting for almost 1 in every 30 visitors to the country.

Premier League Stadiums Are Surprisingly Small

Now, despite the Premier League's global reach and concentration of footballing talent, there's a scarcity of seats, which explains the 99% occupancy level.

For all its dominance in other factors, the league is not at the top of the pile for stadium capacity. In 2024/25, the average capacity across all 20 Premier League stadiums is 40,483, lower than the Bundesliga, at 43,340.

Some truly compact venues are on the lower end of the scale, including Bournemouth's Vitality Stadium, which holds just 11,307 fans, and the Gtech Community Stadium, which holds 17,250. These are among the smallest in Europe's top leagues.

Even at the larger end, only Old Trafford (74,197) rivals Borussia Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park, which has an 81,365 capacity.

So perhaps it's no surprise that the Premier League is experiencing a construction boom as clubs attempt to accommodate their fans. As of the 2024/25 season, 15 of the 20 clubs in the division are either constructing new stadiums, expanding their existing grounds, or actively planning one of these developments.

There's an immense squeeze on match-goers. For example, Arsenal basic members only stand a 7%—11% chance of buying tickets for a 60,704-seater stadium through the club's ballot.

Season Ticket Holders Rule the Stands

Something that goes hand in hand with the immense demand is the scarcity of match-to-match tickets on the primary ticket market due to the sheer number of season ticket holders.

In 2024/25, 75% of all seats at Premier League stadiums are occupied by season ticket holders, many of whom have been around for years. This automatically makes it trickier to buy match-to-match Premier League tickets.

To reward their loyalty, season ticket holders are also given plenty of incentives to renew their tickets every year, from discounted prices on their seats to a range of membership perks.

In 2023/24, West Ham United reported a total of 55,000 season ticket holders, accounting for general admission and seasonal hospitality tickets. That is an astonishing 88% of the London Stadium's capacity.

In addition, it's worth factoring in each stadium's away allocation, which is a minimum of 3,000 seats or 10% of the stadium's capacity if it is lower than 30,000.

Ticket Price Rises Are Not as Dramatic as They Appear

As a rule, Premier League ticket prices rise by the season, to the dismay of regular match-going fans. However, despite fan groups raising concerns about the cost of attending football matches, ticket prices have risen below the Consumer Price Index (CPI) since the start of the 2017/18 season.

To illustrate, the average price of a Premier League ticket across all categories was £32 in 2017 and is now £38 in 2024/25. Adjusting for inflation, by Ticket Compare's calculation, the price would be £41.97.

It is one of the more surprising details about the discourse around football tickets in recent years. There is no doubt that Premier League tickets are expensive, especially compared to other leagues where non-discounted standing spots start at €18.50 (or £15.63) at Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga.

However, if fans were willing to pay comparatively higher prices back in the 2010s, it is easy to see why they would be happy to pay slightly lower prices now.

Away Tickets Are Even Cheaper

Since 2016, the price of away tickets for visiting supporters in the Premier League has been capped at £ 30. So, across all 20 Premier League teams, away tickets will never cost more than £30.

Each new season represents even better value, and demand has reached unprecedented levels. Most fans of the top Premier League clubs will never be able to buy away tickets through their clubs.

Even season ticket holders, who enjoy plenty of ticketing benefits, will go years without being able to attend an away match. At clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United, the away ticket allocation is locked down in a closed market among long-term matchgoers.

This cap is up for review in 2025, but the Premier League will be pressured to maintain the current price or keep any increase as marginal as possible.

Football's Global Magnet: Why the Premier League Keeps Packing Stadiums

The demand for Premier League tickets shows no signs of slowing. With an ever-growing international fan base, constant investment in playing talent, and ongoing stadium expansions, the league is trying to consolidate its spot as the top domestic football league.

Even in the face of rising prices, the Premier League's worldwide appeal and loyal cohort of long-term season ticket holders ensures that its stadiums will continue to sell out, year after year.