Hull City are the Championship's standard-bearer and their rivals need to take note
The cost of watching football is a discussion rarely off the agenda and generates no shortage of opinion from supporters at clubs up and down the country, largely because, at some clubs, it's become unaffordable for many.
When you factor in travel, food and the need to often take time off work, one 90-minute game can often cost more than £100, and that figure will only rise if you have children. Let's not get started on replica kit prices - we'll save that one for another day.
At Hull City, ticket prices became a particularly hot topic under the previous ownership of the Allam family when concession tickets were scrapped, with the Tigers found to be in breach of Premier League rules for doing so. The introduction of a membership scheme was also criticised, replacing the traditional season tickets, though now, many would agree the membership scheme actually works out well and is the most cost-effective way of watching Tim Walter's team in action.
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Now, under Acun Ilicali's ownership, City are heralded as one of the cheapest places to watch Championship football with a competitive pricing policy and one focussed on attracting the next generation of spectators, something the Turkish owner puts great importance on.
Not only that, fans have access to good facilities and, arguably, some of the best food and drink anywhere in the country, and that includes the Premier League.
While the membership scheme remains, it does bring City fans a host of extra privileges, including the ability to build up loyalty points to spend on merchandise, amongst other stuff, while members also have the benefit of attending a host of events throughout the year, and not just the traditional signing sessions. Young fans, for instance, can enjoy bowling and computer game sessions with first-team players, and of course, the famed trips to Turkey. Few clubs do as much as City to engage with their fans, young and old.
Fans at City can watch the Tigers in action for as little as £15 per game making it one of the cheapest clubs in the Championship. Prices for kids are also ridiculously cheap - just £3.50 for under-10s and only £5 for kids aged between 11 and 15.
Understandably, City have cut the MKM Stadium into three sections. Zones One, Two, and Three, the price depends on the area in which you choose to sit. Basically, if you want to sit in what is perceived to be the best view in the stadium - around the halfway line - then you'll pay a bit more - £40 per month compared with £28, but even the most expensive seats only work out at just over £20 per game if paid monthly (£32 if you buy match-by-match), and I think most would agree that's fair.
And what's great about the Tigers' ticketing policy is that they don't rip off away supporters. Visiting fans don't pay more than £24 for the best-priced seat inside the away section, meaning they do not pay more than any home supporter with a comparative view elsewhere in the stadium.
Already this season, City fans were charged £38 for sections of the away stand at QPR with £32 the cheapest for adults, while Under-18s were £20 and £17 respectively. At Leeds United, it was £30 for adults, or £23.50 for kids between two and 15 - those prices generated much annoyance, and rightly so. Neither of those stadiums has good facilities, certainly not worthy of charging those prices.
Ticket revenue is significant for clubs, and City are no different. While the club's costs continue to soar, whether it be the price of energy to run the stadium or the increased costs on the playing side, City have worked hard to keep watching the team be competitive and affordable. No doubt in the future there will need to be increases to cover those costs, but any such rises are done after every other alternative has been exhausted, and I think as a general rule, Tigers fans respect and understand that, but also appreciate the effort the club goes to in trying to keep prices as low as possible.
City know that if they price fans out of watching games, attendances will drop and there will be huge swathes of empty seats around the MKM Stadium. Given the extensive work staff behind the scenes have done to increase attendances while making matchday fun for families, that would be a disaster and something Ilicali would not allow.
The club have worked tirelessly since the takeover in January 2022 to re-engage the community, and it's worked. The MKM Stadium consistently attracts crowds well in excess of 20,000, and that's with a vastly limited away allocation capped at around 2,300 compared to previous years when away clubs were given about double that.
It would be easy for clubs such as City, who have limited revenue streams from elsewhere, to hike ticket prices to eye-watering levels (like QPR) and try to make an extra few thousand pounds from ticket-buying supporters. But in doing so, they would do more damage, and that damage could be irreparable. You risk losing a generation of supporters, the future, the children now who will bring their children in years to come.
City's matchday experience is exceptional, and at the root of that is its sensible pricing policy, which encourages people from all backgrounds to come and watch their local team. They're a club that gets it, and they are not tone-deaf and understand their role - and importance - in the community.