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Which Premier League club earns the most from match-going fans?
Martin Macdonald
- 27 Feb 2026 07:01 CST
- 4 min read
News
The price of Premier League match tickets is a developing concern among football supporters in England, particularly involving the 'Big Six'.
The Uefa European club finance and investment landscape report has determined that supporters of Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham paid an average of 19% more on tickets in 2025 than in 2024.
On average, fans of the big six paid £74 per match in 2025.
Arsenal charge the most as the Gunners made, on average £89 per fan, per match last year.
Liverpool enjoyed the biggest increase in ticket revenue as they earned £120 million from Anfield matches in 2025, a 27% increase from 2024.
"There is a big problem with ticket prices, and these figures are definitely not fair for fans," says Thomas Concannon, Premier League network manager for the Football Supporters' Association.
"We believe there should be a league-wide ruling on home ticket prices - it would protect fans and make for a more competitive league.
"We need clubs to sit down with fans, have a proper open look at what the impacts are of rising costs across football, and see how we can work together."
Clubs justify increasing ticket prices by citing inflation, running costs and the need to comply with Financial Fair Play rules.
Premier League ticket revenue
| Club | Total ticket revenue | Average paid per fan, per match |
|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | £160m | £89 |
| Chelsea | £92m | £84 |
| Liverpool | £120m | £74 |
| Man City | £80m | £58 |
| Man Utd | £135m | £61 |
| Tottenham | £131m | £76 |
Revenue issues
The Premier League charges more for tickets than any other country, on average, and have vastly better broadcasting deals than any other league, yet most are struggling to remain in the green when it comes to finances.
Last year, only five Premier League clubs posted a profit, with the other 15 reporting losses.
This week, it was revealed that Chelsea have posted the single biggest loss in a season in the history of British football as they are £355m in the red.
"The wealthier clubs seem to have the impression that as they increase their revenues, the supporters get richer too and can afford to pay a lot more money - that's not the reality," Concannon explains.
"More and people are being priced out. The revenues prove English football doesn't have an income problem - it has a spending problem."
There have been several protests at the rising cost of ticket prices, including the Football Supporters' Association's 'Stop Exploiting Loyalty' campaign in 2024.
Some clubs have taken to increasing the availability of lucrative hospitality tickets while at the same time, stopping concession tickets.
"Limiting concessions, and completely getting rid of them in some cases, is something we completely disagree with," Concannon continues.
"Hospitality has an impact on tickets for the long-standing matchgoing fan. There is a Premier League rule saying the most expensive tickets should subsidise the cheapest ones, but fans really don't feel like they're seeing that.
"It has a huge impact on the atmosphere too."
Nine top-flight English clubs feature in Europe's top 25 for gate revenue, with the big six all in the top 11.
Even though the Premier League charges more for tickets than other countries, on average, there are clubs around Europe who charge more for single matches.
Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and Real Madrid all charge more than Premier League clubs for a single game, on average.
The biggest expenditure for football clubs is, by far, wages as Premier League clubs paid £3.5 billion in wages in 2025.
"We can say costs are increasing and football clubs are not immune to that, but the vast majority of their expenditure is still player wages and transfer fees," says Dan Plumley, principal lecturer in sport finance at Sheffield Hallam University.
"Clubs are constantly chasing revenue down, not to make a profit, but to stretch their squad costs as much as possible.
"That's where clubs run the risk of alienating fanbases because a lot of fans will see that for what it is.
"Clubs have unwavering loyalty from their customers that you don't really get in any other industry, and there's potential for exploitation that comes with that."
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