Arsenal fans are red-faced over Sky and BT Sports’s new £14.95 charge to watch matches that have been left without crowds due to coronavirus restrictions.
Arsenal Fan Circle on Twitter said: “Most fans feel it is unfair, [it’s] an extra charge on top of existing subscription charges.”
Some weekend fixtures, including Arsenal vs. Leicester on Sunday 25 October, are usually reserved for stadium crowds if television rights are not secured in advance. But with seats sitting empty for seven months, the Premier League moved to televise these matches and are now pushing through a hefty pay-per-view charge.
Revenue will go directly to the Premier League to generate extra income for clubs currently receiving no match-day revenue. Leicester City was the only club to oppose the charge.
Arsenal fans are angry: for them, the fee is too steep, and they are reluctant to pay.
Arsenal Fan Circle suggested on Twitter that if the price was dropped to £5 – the typical price of a pint at the pub – there would be more takers.
With fans facing financial hardship during the pandemic, many see it as the club’s way to squeeze more money out of supporters rather than a sincere attempt to recover lost revenue.
Michael Brunskill, from the Football Supporters Association (FSA), also agrees the price is “unfair” and said the FSA had not been consulted on it. While making it clear the FSA does not support illegal streaming, he acknowledges fans will use it instead.
£10, said Brunskill, is a more acceptable amount that fans could “grudgingly accept.” A fiver would make them even happier.
One supporter on a popular Arsenal blog suggested: “Get a few people ‘round the house, split the cost with your mates” as a solution. This would be in breach of COVID regulations for local fans, with household mixing in London banned under new Tier 2 restrictions.
