The rising cost of an Amex Stadium season ticket over 10 seasons
Time flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it? 2020-21 season will be the 10th season that Brighton have played at the Amex, which makes it seem like a good time to look into how much the cost of a season ticket has risen during our time at the stadium.
Each and every year, the Albion release the new price of a ticket accompanied by the term “minimal increase.” We decided to take a look at just how much those minimal increases have added up to since the Amex first opened its doors at the start of the 2011-12 campaign.
Obviously, much has changed since that wonderful first season at the Amex. Brighton are now a Premier League club as opposed to the reigning League One champions and we get to watch some of the finest players representing the biggest clubs in the world every home game.
The Albion are naturally going to feel it is within their right to whack up the cost of an Amex season ticket when Sergio Aguero, Mo Salah and Harry Kane are coming to town instead of Doncaster Rovers, Barnsley or Coventry City.
There is also the travel factor to consider. The cost of a 2011-12 season ticket at Amex of course did not include free travel, with the club rather foolishly thinking that supporters would buy books of travel vouchers to use to get the train to and from Falmer.
Of course, when everybody realised that the barriers at both Brighton and Falmer would be left open, nobody bothered and just travelled to and from games for free.
That resulted in £30 being added to the cost of a season ticket for 2012-13 to cover the cost of travel. That travel subsidy has remained in place for the subsequent nine seasons.
The important figure to remember when comparing the cost of an Amex Stadium season ticket in 2011-12 to that of the prices set for 2020-21 is 22.68%.
According to the Office for National Statistics and the Bank of England, that’s how much prices have risen since 2011 at an average of 2.6% per year.
So a North Stand season ticket which cost £395 for the first season at the Amex Stadium would now set you back £485 in 2020 thanks to inflation.
Here’s how the 2011-12 prices compare to 2020-21.
For the 2011-12 season, a season ticket in the North Stand or the West Upper wings cost £395 for an adult. In 2020-21, the cost will be £545, an increase of 37.97%.
Senior tickets have gone up from £276.50 to £370 (+33.81%), under 18s from £197.50 to £265 (+34.17%) and under 10s from £98.75 to £145 (+46.83%).
A season ticket in the central blocks of the West Stand Upper Tier will cost £650 in 2020-21 compared to £460 for the first season at the Amex. That’s an increase of 41.30% over the course of our 10 seasons at the stadium.
Season tickets for the over 65s have risen from £322 to £435 (+35.09%), under 18s from £230 to £300 (+30.34%) and under 10s from £115 to £160 (+39.13%).
During the 2011-12 season, the West Stand Lower Tier wings came under their own separate price umbrella. At some point – possibly when the Amex was expanded in the summer of 2012 – they were incorporated into the same pricing group as the West Upper.
As a result of this change, the cost increase over 10 seasons in the West Lower Wings is 31.31%, the lowest rise of any adult ticket in the stadium up from £495. Seniors now pay 25.54% more, under 18s 21.21% and under 10s 29.29%.
In 2011-12, a season ticket in the central areas of both the West Stand Lower Central and the East Stand cost £545. For 2020-21, that price is now £770 – an increase of 41.28%.
Senior tickets have gone up from £381.50 to £530 (+38.92), under 18s from £272.50 to £365 (+33.94) and under 10s from £136.25 to £185 (+35.77%).
These 2020-21 prices also cover the cost of a season ticket in the East Stand Upper of the Amex Stadium, which wasn’t built for the first campaign at the ground.
The premium seats in the West Stand Lower are found directly behind the dugout. No concessionary prices exist here and a season ticket which cost £595 in this area for the 2011-12 season will now set you back £860 – an increase of 44.53% and the biggest adult rise in the stadium.
Initially, the family area at the Amex covered only the north end of the East Stand lower. For reasons nobody seems to understand, the club have also decided to incorporate another small section next to the away fans in recent seasons.
Because nothing says a day out at the football with the kids like being within earshot of West Ham United, Chelsea and Burnley fans giving out racist and homophobic abuse.
The cost of a family area season ticket for an adult in 2011-12 was £425 compared to £570 in 2020-21 – an increase of 34.11% – and a senior ticket is up from £297.50 to £390 (+31.09%).
It’s when we get to the children’s tickets in the family area that the increases become very interesting. A season ticket for an under 18 has gone up from £99 to £145 – a rise of 46.46%.
An under 10 ticket which was £49 in 2011-12 is now £98, an increase of 83.67% and easily the biggest of any in the stadium.
Throw all these percentages together and what do you get? The average cost of an adult season ticket over 10 campaigns at the Amex Stadium has increased by 39.78%.
A senior now pays an average of 34.72% more and under 18s prices are up by 36.22%. The biggest jump however is a season ticket for the future supporters of the club.
Watching Brighton at the American Express Community Stadium now costs 51.35% more than it did in 2011-12 for children under 10.
Prices go up on just about everything every year , I dont think that £45 per match in the best seats is over the top for two hours of live entertainment . Granted that some times the entertaiment is not as good as you would like but you would pay a lot more for top seats in a theatre and still be served up something that is poor . If you support your club then you will find the money and keep going for when that special game comes along that more than compensates the cost of being there . Keeping the faith and supporting the Albion is in the blood of all true supporters and it all has to be paid for . Up the Albion .