Supporting Man United or Manchester City has never been more expensive, but it’s not too late for the Premier League to take a stand
Manchester City players warm up at Old Trafford ahead of the Manchester derby (Image: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Sitting here in 2023, supporting Manchester United or Manchester City has never been more expensive.
Whether you attend a game or watch games on TV, fans care about every penny. With the country currently in the throes of a cost of living crisis, the price of watching our teams in person is a luxury few can afford.
According to GOAL, a single United matchday ticket costs between £36 and £58. If you want to watch Triple Winners, it costs between £58 and £75. Once you factor in transportation, groceries, goods, etc. the average person is unlikely to be able to cover these costs, even on a semi-regular basis.
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In the last decade, fans have switched to watching matches on television instead. But even that has now become an expensive farce.
In the 2023/24 season, MEN Sport has reported that Premier League matches will be broadcast across three channels; Sky Sports, TNT Sports and Amazon Prime Video. Subscribing to all three for the whole campaign will cost you between £1,046 and £1,202, which is frankly outrageous.
Even if you pay this incredible amount, you don’t get all Premier League games, as some midweek matches and the 3pm kick-off are not included in your package. While the 3pm lockdown is at its best for English football, it shows just how much of a scam subscriptions are.
In May this year, the Premier League welcomed the prosecution of five people sentenced to a total of 30 years and seven months in prison for setting up three illegal game streaming sites. Deafness is an understatement. The Premier League is unaware of the causes of piracy and is happy to allow the rights to games to be split across multiple channels during a campaign, regardless of backers who spend money on them. This is further proof that the beautiful game is being snatched from the hands of workers.
Man City 2023/24 squad report
Any player, any position – click on the links below for Joe Bray’s full guide to Pep Guardiola’s squad and what the coming season could hold:
Luckily for the Premier League, it’s not too late to correct their mistakes. Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass is an example of what fans across the country are crying out for. Bundling TV rights into one universal subscription service will reduce costs for the consumer. This approach would also curb piracy, which the Premier League also hates.
From a media perspective, it’s obvious that everyone is desperate for a piece of the lucrative pie, but the Premier League should support fans who are fighting price increases. It is now up to the major leagues to take a stand or risk preventing an entire generation from following this beautiful game.