Ashburton Season Ticket Shock

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By Boris Mellor
May 10 2005

My season ticket application dropped on the mat some time this morning. I say some time as postman delivers after 10:30 am these days so I am never at home. So it wasn't until 9pm that with trembling fingers I opened the big white envelope.

Now we season ticket holders have been very worried that we would have to dig deep to subsidise our wonderful glowing new stadium.

However I was pleasantly shocked to find the increase no more than 30 or 40 quid for the whole season. Also they claim there will be no increase for the first season at the Emirates.

One reason they give for this good news is that our fans have taken up every ticket available to them home and away. So much for alarmist stories that we have lost support. It also means that they are confident of selling off the corporate seats at the new ground.

The Gooner has argued that any unused boxes, Diamond Club and on the Level seats could cause a loss of up to £15 million a year, I have every sympathy with what is being argued, and a loss of form could see it happen. But if there are any empty boxes (that's a big if) they will not be a net loss, because packages can be sold individually for key matches - eg Manure, Champions League, Xmas and New Year. I too would prefer a 70,000 seater with cheaper seats. The same goes for other high price seats, its better to pay £150 to the club for one match than to a tout. But there is no point in joining the doom and gloom brigade in predicting financial disaster. Clearly the confidence of the Arsenal directors of not making swingeing price rises, as Man U will have to do, shows they are confident that, at least, for the short term, revenue will increase.

They are also confident of making big money on selling off the old ground, and additional sponsorships beyond the Emirates. It could be that the debt is about to shrink very rapidly, and that match revenues will be the highest in Europe.