Norwich have capped ticket prices at £30 on their return to the top flight, reviving the issue of accessible pricing for fans in the Premier League.
Norwich have announced that every home game will see 1,500 tickets available for sale at £30 to casual home fans which, alongside 22,000 season tickets, will make up the home allocation at the 27,000-capacity Carrow Road. The £30 figure matches the cap levied by the Premier League on away tickets since 2016.
“We believe as a football club that we have phenomenal support and we shouldn’t price people out of football”, said the chief operating officer, Ben Kensell. “So we decided that if £30 is fair for away supporters, then £30 is also fair for home supporters considering the price of a home ticket the last time we were in the Premier League.
“No one in the ground from a general admission perspective next season will pay more than £30. That, as a club, sets us apart and we’re really proud of that. We think it’s the right thing to do.”
The most recent research from the Premier League found the average price of a home match ticket in the division was £31 but this included the costs of season tickets which are often available at a discounted per-match rate. In 2018 just over half the 20 Premier League sides priced their most expensive tickets at around £40 but non-season ticket seats at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium can cost up to £97.
Norwich’s new scheme has been hailed by some supporters but the club also came under fire for tying the reduced price to a new membership scheme. Fans must pay £50 to qualify for the general admission tickets and a similar system is being put into place for away tickets, with some supporters claiming the ability to pay is being valued more highly than loyalty.
“We’ve never had an away membership before,” Kensell said. “We’ve had a points system instead and, whilst it has been effective over the years, it’s quite antiquated now. We’ve looked at what other Premier League clubs do and looked at what we need to do, spoken with fans and therefore we’ve brought in a two-tier away membership.
“I appreciate this level of change will be unsettling to begin with and there will be many different opinions on whether this is a positive or negative step forward but ultimately, as a club, we believe it’s the right thing to tackle the supply and demand issue and ensure that its fair for all supporters.”