UK Edition
Chelsea fans paying double Arsenal supporters to watch team on Sky Sports
While football fans regularly complain about the soaring cost of match tickets, new analysis shows that for supporters of many clubs it can be cheaper to pay to go to a game than watch on TV.
Fans of Premier League champions Chelsea are forking out a mighty £40 a game to watch their team on TV, while Arsenal fans are paying half that price.
This means Arsenal fans can make a hefty saving by not going to games at the Emirates, where the most expensive ticket costs £95. However Crystal Palace, who are currently rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table, don’t represent such a good saving, with games costing £80 each on TV, while the most expensive match ticket is £45.
The analysis, by MoneySuperMarket, is based on the number of times each team will appear on Sky Sports in the first 14 matches of this season and the cost of a subscription.
Surprisingly Chelsea sit in the bottom half of the table for value, only appearing on Sky four times, while newly promoted Brighton are seventh. Wayne Rooney’s Everton will have clocked up seven games on the box and sit at third for value, with an average cost of £22.86 per game.
The data for BT Sport, calculated in the same way, paints a slightly different picture with Manchester Utd representing the best value with four Premier League games costing an average of £38.49 each.
For fans of nine Premier League clubs, including Newcastle Utd, Manchester City and Southampton, BT Sport doesn’t represent such great value for money, with their teams only appearing once, costing them £153.96 per game.
Telegraph Money analysis also shows that for many clubs a TV subscription is far more expensive than a ticket to actually watch their team live. Arsenal fans can expect to pay at least twice as much to go to a game as they can on TV.
But for supporters of the clubs appearing on TV least, such as Crystal Palace, West Brom and Southampton, it can work out to be far cheaper to go to a match than watch on TV.
Dan Plant, of MoneySuperMarket, said: “Our data highlights just how expensive it can be for Premier League fans to follow their team on TV. Now more than ever, it’s important to make sure you’re not paying over the odds for your Sky broadband and TV package, especially if you’re a Swansea, Crystal Palace or Bournemouth fan.
“Although BT Sport is obtaining the rights to an increasing number of games per season and covers European games, it’s still much more likely that Sky will televise your favourite team, but it always pays to check.
“Our guide helps savvy football fans figure out how much they are paying to watch their team and see if there’s an alternative package that would get them better value for their money.”