Arsenal Supporters’ Trust have been left angered at the club raising season ticket prices for a fifth consecutive year.
The Gunners’ season ticket prices will rise by an average of 3.9% for the 2026/27 season, citing rising costs and high demand for financial sustainability.
The AST have since expressed disappointment at the decision, criticising the club and Premier League for ignoring calls for a price freeze amid rising broadcast/commercial revenues.
A 23-game season ticket for the Arsenal men’s team in the upper tier of the Emirates Stadium will cost a minimum of £1,291 next season and a maximum of £2,196 in seats closest to the centre circle.
Arsenal have preserved all concessionary ticketing categories and will continue to distribute 1,000 free tickets to the local community.
The club also say they are introducing safe standing in the Clock End lower tier next season following a consultation with fans, while planing to extend it to the North Bank lower tier in 2027/28.
The club said: “While were are making progress towards winning major trophies, we are still working towards financial sustainability. Our investment in our playing squads and infrastructure is dependent on the revenue we drive in the face of rising costs.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal are close to confirming Bukayo Saka’s contract extension until 2031, worth around £300,000 per week.
You can read Arsenal’s announcement here https://t.co/c8Qq8kt7Yg
— AST (@AST_arsenal) February 17, 2026
ARSENAL SUPPORTERS’ TRUST STATEMENT:
AST response to Arsenal’s Ticketing arrangements for 2026/27
Arsenal ignore game wide call for price freeze
We are disappointed that the FSA’s ‘Protect the Fans, Protect the Game’ proposals calling for a ticket price freeze across all Premier League clubs has not been taken up. Neither the Premier League nor Arsenal have seriously engaged with the idea that a freeze at all clubs would help stop the ‘arms race’.
We firmly believe that with the football sector benefitting from ever-increasing broadcast and commercial revenues it is time to stop squeezing match-going supporters so hard.
Arsenal recently reported to Deloitte a big increase in last season’s total revenue to £691m (up by 10%) and ticketing income of £154m (up by 19%).
It is frustrating for fans to see football clubs and leagues do so little to combat increasing costs in the game, with ticket prices continuing to rise. The AST has led efforts through the FSA and FSE for regulation to control agents’ fees. Yet the football authorities and clubs seem incapable of collectively addressing this.
We now expect both Arsenal and the Premier League to give more explanation as to why they have chosen to ignore the compelling case for a price freeze put forward by the ‘Protect the Fans, Protect the Game’ campaign, which was overwhelmingly backed by supporters including all representative members of the Arsenal Advisory Board (AAB).
Protection of all concession categories and ticket fees
We welcome Arsenal’s decision to retain all concessionary ticketing categories (children, young adults, disability and senior) and a community tickets initiative. At a time when many clubs are reducing concessionary commitments it is good to see Arsenal retain these important protections.
We are also pleased that Arsenal will maintain the policy of not charging fans for using the Ticket Transfer service, the Ticket Exchange, nor signing up for a digital membership. Many other clubs are exploiting loyalty by increasing fees for these types of services and we commend Arsenal for recognising how important these services are to supporters who share tickets among family and friends helping to fill every seat.
Fairer categorisation of Champions League games
Arsenal have partially responded to our request for a review of pricing categories for Champions League matches by committing to apply Category C to the group stage match against the team seeded in pot four.
We still believe that the pricing categories for Champions League games are too high – especially for group stage games where almost certain qualification carries little sporting jeopardy – and we will continue to press Arsenal for fairer prices. We believe the new B+ category could justifiably be used instead of the A category for some Champions League games.
Improvements to the option to buy a 19-game season ticket for Premier League matches only
Last season we were pleased that our long-standing request for the option of a 19-game season ticket was introduced. But we advised at the time that take up would be low given that those season ticket holders who took up this option were not afforded any priority rights to buy their seat for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
This year we again strongly advocated that the 19-game season ticket should give holders an automatic right to purchase their seat for all other competitive home matches in the League Cup, FA Cup and Champions League. This is in line with arrangements at other Premier League clubs, and recognises the dedication of season ticket holders and their still large up-front financial commitment.
For next season Arsenal are proposing to amend this option so that a 19-game season ticket holder has the right to buy all League Cup and FA Cup tickets and Champions League group stage games, but not the Champions League knockout games.
We made it clear that this adjustment will not move the dial and that take up will remain low until 19-game season ticket holders have the right to buy tickets for all Champions League knockout games. This is a missed opportunity, as encouraging more season ticket holders to take up the 19-game option would create more ticket availability for silver and red members – a vital priority.
Arsenal did acknowledge our concerns and have committed to a further review of the 19-game season ticket before season 2027/28 when evidence from this year’s change can be fully reviewed.
More ticketing information to be made available to supporters on how away tickets are allocated
We are pleased that Arsenal have committed to publish more transparency on how away tickets are allocated from the start of next season. The club are also undertaking further reviews and improvements to how away tickets are distributed to ensure fairness and continue the fight against touting.
More action to tackle ticket touting
It is also good to see more action being proposed on ticket touting in general. Our longstanding call for photo ID verification on membership purpose to be applied to all red and silver members will be introduced. This should reduce the number of duplicate memberships being held by touts. In time there is a case for ID checks being applied to all membership categories.
We would also like to see concerted action to trace the source of away tickets that regularly end up on secondary market websites at multiples of the face value. This has to be stopped and more mystery shopping is needed as well as once again reiterating to all those who receive away tickets that any being sold on these sites will result in a lifetime ban on receiving any further tickets, either home or away.
The new Category A+
We strongly opposed Arsenal’s proposal for a new category A+ ticket, starting in season 2026/27.
This ticket category will see general admission ticket prices range from £90 to £168, making it by far the most expensive general admission price in English football. It puts Arsenal top of a table we don’t want to win and questions how serious the club is about its commitment to being together on a journey with supporters.
At first it was suggested by Arsenal that this category would only apply to big Champions League matches – likely knock out rounds.
We reminded the club that when Arsenal proceed to the later stages of the Champions League, huge additional sums are earned in broadcast rights, commercial bonuses and ticketing revenue, negating the need to extract even more from supporters. Furthermore, UEFA have already announced big increases to future broadcast revenues.
Following further discussion Arsenal returned with a commitment that the A+ would only be applied to a maximum of two games in season 2026/27, specifically a potential Champions League quarter-final and semi-final. They also responded to our call to rule out any extending of this price category in future seasons by giving a commitment not to do so for at least two seasons.
This provides some temporary comfort but we do fear that in future seasons we will see price category creep.
This pricing level follows the American/FIFA model of squeezing more and more from fans. It is perhaps significant that this change has come when Arsenal’s Boardroom has become more US-centric following three appointments in September 2025.
We will continue to make the case for ticket price restraint and fairness to both the new Board and Arsenal’s Executive in future meetings as we believe it is vital that the club is aware of the impact pricing has on its loyal supporter base.
@espionaricpoet
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Here’s how fans reacted with the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust angered at the club raising season ticket prices for a fifth consecutive year…
@espionaricpoet: £160+ for a ticket. Jesus Christ
@afc_king: We are fast approaching the point where its too much for the average fan to afford and you will start seeing more and more pockets of empty seats as a result of this overcharging, @AST_arsenal can see that too. We are being squeezed like cash cow customers. This trend is going to be unsustainable if it carries on and if we have 1 bad season in the future, it is going to come back to bite the club in the rear.
@AaronBSM: £168 to see a football match in England. Arsenal should be ashamed. Highest ticket prices in England and pricing out match going fans to attract a new audience of foreigners and day trippers who visit arsenal for a one of experience. Get in the fucking bin
@Rory_Bond: £90- £168 a ticket down at Arsenal next year. Insane.
@GeorgePardon2: How much
@ConciseColin: They are just looking at the size of the season ticket waiting list and telling us to pay up or foxtrot oscar. We are on the path to American sports ticket prices and we will each have to individually decide where the point to step off falls. Don’t dream that they care.
@51chappie: Shocking that this is happening. Ticket prices are spiralling out of control, and need to be addressed. Given the rollout of more games to accommodate tv schedules throughout the week, fans are being squeezed and being treated as an afterthought.
@MCFCfoodbank: Good statements by @AST_arsenal Arsenal Supporters Trust here, £168 for a GA ticket is sickening. “General Admission” as a term is starting to become meaningless across the PL. #StopExploitingLoyalty
@PaulPonting: Thirty four years of having a season ticket might come to an end with those prices. No way I could afford that next season
