So the club has released the pricing for the Champions League packages today and it pays no heed whatsoever to the crisis many people are struggling with, or soon will be. There is a certain amount of cynicism in announcing those prices today, before the revised gas and electricity bills start dropping through people’s doors, and before the draw is even made.
£129 is £43 quid per ticket per game. To ask fans to pay that right now is appalling. Those tickets could have been kept under £100. They could have been kept around £90 or even less. The club will lose a bit of money, sure, but it would have helped many fans.
Instead they’ve gouged out as high a price as they feel they can get away with. I think this club shows at times a shocking lack of empathy with the supporters, and this is one of those times. I know I’m going to get stick for this but so what? The people giving out the stick will be the people for whom £129 is nothing to worry about.
But if you’re a parent with kids whose already sweating the electricity bill I think this will look like an abysmal decision and one that exploits the supporters and their desire to back the club. £43 per ticket, at this moment in time, in the midst of this cost of living disaster, is frankly obscene.
Those who run our club are so far removed from the lives of the ordinary fans that they might as well be running this club from foreign shores. These people have forgotten – if they ever knew to begin with – what it’s like to be struggling on a worker’s salary.
Alarm bells are ringing louder than at any point in my living memory. We’re in the grip of spiralling inflation and a fuel costs explosion which is going to obliterate the finances of millions of people … and our club thinks that this is an appropriate pricing policy.
There’s really not much more I can add to that. It’s disgusting.
Definitely over priced in the current climate…. Personally I can afford the £129.
But that doesn’t take away from the fact they’ve stuck the boot in to the ordinary fan.
Unbelievable.
I was shocked recently when a family member told me they’d paid £70 approx. for a ticket to see Liam Gallagher (not even Oasis, just him!), so with that in mind, i don’t think £43 in todays world is overpriced, especially considering its the Champions League; i expected single ticket prices to be closer to double that tbh.
It all adds up though, and the full package or even more than one game might be too much for some, but that in itself allows others to maybe enjoy a game they might otherwise not have been able to acquire a ticket for.
Celtics charity ethos was gone along time ago. It is scandalous in my opinion. Yes the champions league is the crème de la crème for football, and normally the price would be kind of acceptable, but with times the way they are, I think it’s not fair on working families, especially when they have allready bought there season books, and the new strips as well, which in my opinion is a disgraceful price for a football top as well.
Some things never change, the old board that was overthrown and kicked out because they had lost touch with reality, it’s not just Scotland, the whole world is going through tough times, especially here in the states where I live, gas, electricity doubling in price gasoline( petrol) through the roof, and the heads of the club are somewhere out in space with the pricing of tickets. Our fans have proven to be the best on European nights and this is in jeopardy!!
£43 is more than reasonable James. Remember, the club spends every dime they receive, so this isn’t like they’re ‘gouging’ fans so they can pay millions of pounds in annual dividends. This money is going back into the team. Or funding cost of living raises to the staff. And personally, I expected the price to be £50+. This isn’t a home game against St Johnstone or an away trip to Dundee. This is the Champions League, and a price higher than a regular league game should be expected. At £43 it will be the lowest price Champions League ticket available on this island and lower than all the Pot 1 and Pot 2 teams as well. And I would be shocked if the uptake on these tickets isn’t near 100% among season ticket holders for the simple fact that the population most impacted by the cost of living crisis are already priced out of season tickets.
Absolutely agree with you £129 to watch 3 games plus bus fare from Cowdenbeath (£12 x 3) 43 plus 12 is 55
I will be watching it on tv I will not be paying that price
Greedy Celtic they are not in touch with reality all supporters should stay away ( not going to happen)
It is a choice between heating and eating just now
Keep up the blog James and keep calling Celtic out for this
Regards
Brian
At the sake of repeating myself I will say again our greedy board have never cared about us the lifeblood of the club and today proves my point and they better be prepared for negative feedback as they also put season tickets up 50quid
6 months or more ago I’d have said £129 for 3 CL games..that’s pretty fair. But when people are being hammered by every single thing costing tens of percent more whilst their wages stagnate, I think it’s far from fair.
For shame, Celtic. For shame.
Shocking the prices there charging for c/l tickets but they know they will sell them
Celtic, like everyone else are not immune from the cost of living increases, they also have mega bills to pay, mega salaries etc. and they don’t often get to this stage of that competition to make the much needed revenue. I won’t be going, I’m a pensioner and I cannot afford it, and that is the choice everyone has, no mun no fun. Had I been younger and fitter I would have been going whether I had too beg steal or borrow to get there. I would not have felt exploited either and I would have been only to glad to pay the price to see the best football tournament in the world.
Let’s face it yes the club could reduce the price but what do we want jota ccv or cheap tickets well I’m sorry but we can’t have both so decide now .
You have made a good point here.. Cause and effect. If the author says it is right St Mirren are asking the fans to volunteer to cough up £30 to cover the cost of reducing away fans but there will be consequences, the same applies here. If Celtic unilaterally decides to cut costs whilst the huns will happily fleece their own fans if they win tonight, there will be consequences. Live entertainment has been rendered unaffordable to many since the dawn of the digital age. Rock concerts are priced ridiculously, going to the cinema is hella expensive if you are taking the family and football is no different.
I think that whilst I agree Celtic could have done more, what would be the outcome if they had? Some kudos with the fans and a few hard to find lines in the Daily Record saying well done. Celtic is not to blame here. Supply and demand is. Try changing that, you can’t, it’s human nature. As is greed.
You do write some bvllshit at times..You seriously don’t think all those glory hunter “mercenaries” will take a pay cut ,seriously do you …ffs…
You should apply for a job with the daily ranger ,sometimes I can’t tell the difference…
Celtic played Bayern a couple of years ago, I paid 130 € for my official ticket for the Allianz Arena…If they want to play with the bigger clubs they’re forced into these decisions…
Champions league is a licence to print money for the club . 2 things I can guarantee, celtics be cheapest package out all the British clubs , and all 3 matches will sell out regardless of opposition.
I’m with you on this one Johnny or sorry to associate you with what I’m about to write. I’ll get the tickets even though I agree that, in isolation, its a lot of wonga. In isolation which of course its not. That’s before the increased costs of transport to get to Paradise with its lights blaring on a CL night and get back home. It could though have been higher still, in the £50/55 + range like so many other clubs will do.
There’s a wider debate to be had here. Every other company or business, utility, fuel, mortgages, banks, landlords, local and central government, housing, trains, shops, festivals, yes even Liam Gallagher gigs, etc, can raise their prices exorbitantly and we take it but Celtic can’t charge £43 for CL games without this form of assault like we’re the most uncharitable organisation that ever was or will be. Its not an exorbitant price hike compared to every other rip off club, company or business. My transport fares have by percentage increased by considerably more than this increase.
You could direct your discontent elsewhere too, what about at Ange? I’m not seeing that. Only at the easily targeted board. A balanced argument might consider the fact that your worshipped hero, Angelos, has ensured our team’s transformation and positive development but reality is backing him has to come at a cost to us the fans. I’m not knocking Ange for his vision or the cost and I’m not knocking the board that supported that investment, that backed Ange and his vision. At the same time he’s shown complete disinterest in a decent CB and fcked off a guy, a £7m investment guy, for about £900,000. How come that Ange directed loss, a huge figure, a massive loss for our club, gets unaddressed by you. You’ve written off and disregarded that so easily without comment or thought to the cost to the fans yet that too is in these terribly difficult financial times.
Those prices would be doubled if it was in the US. I’d happily pay $43 to go to a regular season NHL game, and was ready to pay $600 for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
It’s not 2003, prices on everything have gone up.
The suits know that they could sell 80,000 packages for these games, even before the draw has been make. They will think that the fans will still have cash in the wallets, what with no qualifiers to pay for.
The excitement and anticipation for these games under the disco lights will override the cost of living crisis. Football first and just about everything else in life second. It’s just human nature. Gran’s savings account will be raided, if need be. But I appreciate where JF is coming from.
Excellent article James, and I feel this is the correct response to the CL ticket price announcement today. Paul Larkin has got it spot on with his comment on his own twitter page today “it’s not about whether you can afford it, it’s about if everyone can”. I also don’t think it is fair to compare the price of a football match ticket to a pop concert ticket price. Not many people will go to see Liam Gallagher 20 times in a year. A pop concert is a one-off treat, a luxury. Celtic fans have already forked out upwards of £500 each for a season ticket to watch the all the SPFL teams, not because we are desperate to see sevco or St Johnstone or Hearts, but because we love Celtic. The club should therefore actually reward us by lowering the prices for games against higher class opposition, especially as there is guaranteed income form the Champions League. As a season ticket holder, I will not be paying £129 and I hope other fans do the same. They could have easily made it £90 or so, and announced that it was a thank you to the fans who have stuck by the club during the closed doors season etc. But that type of thinking would not even occur in the minds of the tories who run our club.
“Not many people will go to see Liam Gallagher 20 times in a year. A pop concert is a one-off treat, a luxury.”
My relative would go every other week to see him if he played locally; music is their passion.
I could argue that a single Champions League game is a one off luxury event too, one that would raise the same type of anticipation, euphoria and satisfaction that my relative would get from their musical event.
The point i was making though is that £43/ticket for a Champions League game is not that expensive in todays world, regardless of whatever else supporters spend throughout the year.
We want the club to sign the best players they can, play against the best opposition, well, this is the flip side to it, and tbh its not even that expensive for an event of this magnitude, all things considered.
IMO the club have taken a relatively big hit here in order to sell tickets for this event as cheaply as this; these are likely among the cheapest tickets in the competition, and we could be watching us play against teams like Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan etc, depending on the draw, something we’d all savour and relish the opportunity to spectate.
Absolutely. Club could have got themselves a whole heap of goodwill by keeping prices reasonable. Greed, greed and then some. Now sorry i put down for the cup scheme. Shame on them.
Totally agree on the ticket pricing the CL games. Doesn’t look as though they’ve not given any thought whatsoever to the cost of living crisis and the explosion in fuel bills. Perhaps £43 per game is nothing to those privileged guys sitting on the Board but it’s a huge chunk of change for struggling families.
I think people (and Celtic twitter) are really over hyping the magnitude of the Champions League group stage. I know the draw is exciting and the music is good but It’s basically the first round of the competition. If a team qualifies form the group they get to the last 16. £43 per game for a group stage match (and you have to commit to all 3 games to get that price) is just chiseling the fans. Celtic are asking their fans to fork out £129 to watch us get get cuffed by Real Madrid, Bayern or whoever when they put out half their first team, and actually be grateful for the opportunity. It’s not the semi-final or final. One of the reasons everyone is obsessed with the Champions League is the money Celtic can make. Well, much of that income is already guaranteed by UEFA so that is the very opportunity to say, you guys pay way too much watch us play St Mirren, Livingston etc and we appreciate that, so here’s a ticket for the PSG/Real Madrid/Bayern game for £25 to £30. Instead, they just think what is the maximum we can charge and still fill the stadium. And I have no doubt they will fill the stadium, but another opportunity to bring the support and the club together will have been lost.
I don’t think 43 pound is to much to pay to see your team play the stars in other teams you have to remember Celtic have to pay wages airport hotels ect ,we are not charging excess like the English teams they will be about 70+ per game so pull back a bit and give them a bit of credit,they are having to pay the bills as well Celtic are not holding a gun to you to buy a ticket so if you don’t want to pay someone else will .hail hail