In late March, Liverpool announced that ticket prices would be rising in line with the consumer price index (CPI) for inflation for the next three seasons.
That means that, for next season, season ticket prices are increasing by between £21.50 and £27, while prices for each individual ticket for non season ticket holders will go up between £1.25 and £1.75.
Further increases will follow in the following two seasons, meaning that some fans will potentially be paying around £100 more for their season ticket by 2028. Growth in the rate of inflation could raise that increase further.
This is the first time a Premier League club has pre-announced ticket price rises for multiple consecutive campaigns, and will mean Liverpool ticket prices have gone up in five out of six seasons by the start of the 2028-29 campaign.
Data from Uefa’s annual European club finance and investment landscape report shows that – including both general admission and hospitality – Liverpool make an average of £74 per fan from every ticket they sell.
The Reds made £120m in total ticket revenue last year, a 27 percent year-on-year increase, in part because of the opening of the expanded Anfield Road stand.
Per matchday, they make an average of £4.5m from ticket income, the eighth highest in Europe.
The increase in prices next season should net the club roughly £1.5-2million more from ticket sales.
Liverpool defended the new policies by citing rising operational costs.
“Matchday operating costs have significantly increased, with rises of 85% since 2016-17, and continued rises in the cost of football operations in general”, they said.
“In the past four years, utility costs across the club have also increased by 107% and business rates in that same period have grown by 286%, while wages – excluding player salaries – have risen by 73 per cent.”
But fans don’t accept the logic.
“It’s about what kind of football club Liverpool chooses to be”, Spirit of Shankly said. “One rooted in its people, or one that sees them as a revenue stream to be pushed year after year.
“The key point is simple: this [action] will grow and escalate.
“If you care about this issue, you need to be part of it. Turn up. Join in. Back it. Encourage others to take part.
“This only works if enough of us make it work.”
The link to CPI means that world events which impact the economy and push up inflation, like the US-Israel war with Iran, could cause Liverpool fans to pay even higher prices.
Former Liverpool CEO Christian Purslow told The Football Boardroom podcast: “Alienating your traditional, most hardcore fans? I think it’s bad business.
“I don’t like the multi-year thing. I look at this as an affordability issue – you don’t see public sector or private pay deals being done on a multi-year basis.
“The real cost of going is rising for fans who are last able to cope with that.
“I’m not sure why a team that is making £700m of revenue needs the extra money.”