Man Utd ramp up ticket prices despite disastrous season and Sir Jim Ratcliffe slashing staffing costs
MANCHESTER UNITED have confirmed their season ticket prices for the coming 2025/26 campaign.
And, as anticipated, there will be an increase in the amount of money Red Devils fans have to fork out to secure their seats
Manchester United fans have been hit with a price hike as season ticket renewal costs are revealed[/caption]
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has increased Man Utd’s ticket prices again[/caption]
United fans called on the ownership to ‘Stop Exploiting Loyalty’[/caption]
Thousands of Man Utd fans protested the Glazer Family’s ownership of the club before the match against Arsenal[/caption]
There will be a five per cent increase in prices for adults. However, tickets for under-16s will be frozen at the current value.
In a club statement, CEO Omar Berrada said: “We appreciate the loyal and patient support of our fans, and particularly our Season-Ticket holders who represent the core of our match-going support base.
“We understand the importance of their backing for the team and have worked hard to come up with a pricing package that is fair and reasonable.
“After 11 consecutive years of price freezes, we increased prices by five per cent for the past two seasons and intend to do the same for next season to offset continued rises in operating costs.
“We understand that any price rise is unwelcome, especially during a period of underperformance on the pitch, and we listened carefully to the strong arguments put forward by the FAB in favour of a freeze.
“However, the club has decided that it would not be right to keep prices unchanged while costs rise and the club continues to face financial issues.”
Berrada did however, add that the club had protected the youngest fans from any rises.
That approach is in contrast to the one shown with regular match tickets which were ramped up to £66 earlier this season with no concessions available.
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There was initial excitement about the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, but price hikes and the axing of hundreds of staff have soured the Ineos chief’s relationship with the Old Trafford faithful.
Ratcliffe did, however, warn last week that there would be increases in season ticket prices.
He told Gary Neville on The Overlap: “A little bit, yes, we will [put prices up]. But not a lot.”
United also announced that game categorisation will be introduced for regular match tickets next season, with the highest profile matches costing more.
And Berrada admitted that the Man Utd Fan Advisory Board had not supported the price increases, arguing for a freeze in ticket prices across the board, rather than just for U16s.
Red Devils fans were quick to respond to the announcement, with many left fuming.
Jokingly referring to the proposed £2bn new stadium as a ‘tent’, one fan said the club would ‘have to pay for it somehow’[/caption]
CEO Omar Berrada admitted that not all the changes had been supported by Man Utd’s fan advisory board[/caption]
One posted: “Embarrassment. worst season for 50 years and you still have the cheek to put ticket prices up”
Another wrote: “How about actually rewarding loyalty by freezing ST prices for those who have attended the minimum number of games?”
And a third commented: “Terrible ownership decisions, not even surprised at my own club doing this. Congrats Man United I’ll always be a fan but you have lost a season ticket holder.”
But a greater number of fans appeared to be understanding of the decision.
One commented: “A reasonable increase.”
Another one wrote: “I was expecting much worse, not going to lie. As an ST holder I can live with 5%, will be interesting to see the detail of the match banding for member ticket sales, hopefully they are not going to be silly money for the top games, but suspect they may.”
Another comment read: “Find it funny that the people that never go to games in their life are the ones outraged by this”
Meanwhile one season ticket holder told angry supporters to “get real”, commenting: “My ticket has gone from £41 per to £43.05.
“I’d prefer it didn’t but people need to get real.
“We want to be competing at the top end again, £43 to watch 90 minutes of entertainment isn’t so bad.
“You’d pay an awful lot more for theatre or gigs these days.”
And another fan posted: “People kicking off who go to the games I get completely but people doing YouTube content 3 times a day who don’t go to the games kicking off is just weird.”
And one, referring to the £2bn new stadium’s design, joked: “Got to pay for that tent somehow”
