Tottenham numbers don't add up as club takes unnecessary risk with season-ticket price rise

The mood of the Tottenham fanbase has dramatically improved this season but the club's unpopular changes to ticket pricing now threaten the harmony.

Spurs announced this week they are increasing all season-ticket prices by six per cent from next season and will scrap new senior concessions from 2025-26.

Spurs cited only one previous rise of 1.5 per cent since the new stadium opened in 2019 and "the rising costs of goods and services across the board" as justification for the six per cent hike, and described the year-on-year increase of senior concessions as "clearly not sustainable".

The moves have prompted a furious backlash from individual fans and supporter groups, most of which expected a rise but not on this scale.

Spurs already have among the most expensive season-tickets in the Premier League, now ranging from £856 to £2,367 for an adult seat, and it is not clear how the six per cent figure was reached. It appears around the upper limit of what the club could reasonably impose and will hit many supporters hard, pricing out some completely.

Spurs stand to make an extra £2.5million to £3m from ticket sales next season which, for a club which makes roughly £4.8m in revenue every home game, is a relatively trifling amount.

And, with Ange Postecoglou's Spurs well-placed to return to the reformatted Europa League or Champions League next season, there will be significantly more home games ahead to boost the coffers.

The club have also applied to Haringey Council to increase the number of non-football events at the stadium from 16 to 30 per year and, although they do not expect to be allowed that many, more concerts and other sports at the ground would be another financial boon.

The club's sure financial footing and ability to generate extra revenue should be commended. But it also puts Spurs in a strong position to potentially pass on benefits to their supporters, rather than leading what has been described by one fan group as "a race to the bottom" by upping ticket pricing and stripping back concessions.

Supporters will increasingly resent their club advertising concerts, the NFL and a new go-karting track if they feel they are reaping none of the rewards.

There is also the question of whether Spurs could be doing even more to increase revenue and pass on savings to supporters, with chairman Daniel Levy admitting in September that ticket prices may not have to increase if the club had secured a naming-rights partner for the stadium.

Asked at a fans' forum if a naming rights deal would have helped to prevent price rises, Levy said: "We're all facing increased costs, we've absorbed as much as we can, but you're right, if we had other sources of income maybe we wouldn't have had to do it.

"But we're in a highly competitive industry and everything we do is to maximise the income to invest in the team."

The club's position is that every penny of income goes back into making Spurs successful, which is, of course, what every supporter wants.

The bottom line, though, is that Spurs have many other lucrative revenue streams, more than perhaps any other club in Europe, so raising ticket prices feels like a choice, rather than a necessity resulting from a tough economic climate.

The reason Spurs and the rest of the top-flight are such a compelling broadcast product is partly down to the supporters, who have made a tremendous effort to create a stirring atmosphere at the stadium this season, contributing to the club's unexpectedly-speedy turnaround under Postecoglou.

But by squeezing supporters in a cost-of-living crisis, Spurs risk losing loyal fans and, in time, negatively impacting the atmosphere. There has already been a move by 'THFCFlags' to cancel a planned Tifo for the Manchester City game on April 20, with the fan group accusing the club of "exploiting fan loyalty under the guise of inflation".

It may not happen immediately or even this season but gradually clubs like Spurs will surely pay a negative price for not doing more to insulate fans from rising costs.