AISA respond to Arsenal’s plans for ticketing for the 2025-26 season
The club have hiked prices by between 3% and 5%, which they say is in response to rising costs, including a 40% increase in player wages across the past 12 months.
In a statement, AISA's committee said: "We have held discussions with the club about ticketing, but we were unable to persuade it not to impose an overall rise in season ticket prices.
"We don’t accept that the club’s best option this year is to raise prices, and we will continue to make that clear to them."
Arsenal posted a loss of £17.1m in their 2023-24 accounts, despite record revenues of £616.6m, suffering a culminative loss of £238m over the last four seasons.
The club revealed plans to introduce a 19-game season ticket that excludes some European games, while making 1,000 tickets free of charge across the season for the local community.
AISA added: "While the club listened, we and the other groups did not achieve everything we hoped to - most importantly we were unable to persuade the club not to impose an overall rise in season ticket prices.
The respected supporters group went on to say: "We support the adoption of a 19-game season ticket which will mean members who choose this option will have a significantly reduced sum of money to find at renewal while retaining priority booking for domestic cup games played at the Emirates."
AISA also added: "It is very good news that Arsenal is committed to bringing more of its community into the ground for matches, something raised by supporters at AISA’s AGM.
"We are also pleased that the club has retained concessions for younger fans and (if limited) for the over 65s."
AISA is represented on the Arsenal Advisory Board (AAB) which has been consulted by the club on proposals for ticketing next season.
There have been three meetings about ticketing in the last few weeks and AISA say they are pleased the club engaged directly and openly with the AAB fan reps as part of this process.
AISA said: "We all recognise that the club is aiming for financial sustainability on and off the pitch and we applaud that.
"They have some important decisions to make around sponsorship (AISA has consistently challenged the club on its association with Rwanda for example), and has made good ground with its commercial operation.
"But we don’t accept that the club’s best option this year is to raise prices and we will continue to make that clear to them."
AISA supports the FSA’s campaign to #StopExpliotingLoyalty with the body strongly urging the club to follow the actions of other PL clubs in freezing prices for next year.
In a statement on the club website, Arsenal said: "Our priority is to continue competing at the highest level in all competitions and win major trophies.
"This requires investment in our teams in an environment where costs continue to rise."
AISA added that while there is a lot of detail in Arsenal’s ticketing announcement, they acknowledge that most supporters will focus on the headline, which is the 3.7% overall rise in season ticket prices for next season.
AISA say that the rise (3% for those in the Upper Tier and 5% in the Lower, and on average 4.1% in Club Level) is disappointing.
"We argued strongly and forcibly against it, as did the other fans groups represented on the AAB."
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PS: Don't forget - Live and in conversation: Alan Smith, Lee Dixon, Paul Davis and Andy Cole, with special guest, David Dein.
Save the date: Tuesday, March 25, 730pm
Picturehouse cinema, Finsbury Park, N4 3FU
Tickets £35 (all proceeds go to the Kevin Campbell Foundation)
An exciting and unique opportunity to meet these footballing legends, and to listen to them in conversation with Adrian Clarke.
To buy tickets, click here or go to aisa.org
As it's an intimate venue, ticket numbers are limited.
Any questions, queries or suggestions contact us at membership@aisa.org