Premier League to cap cost of match tickets for away fans at £30
English Premier League fans who want to watch their favorite soccer team on the road just got a welcome bit of news from the sport's administrators.
Tickets for visiting fans will be capped at £30 (roughly $42) for the next three seasons, the league announced Wednesday.
You May Also Like
Until now, the cost of match tickets has been an increasing cause of fan antipathy. As ticket prices continue to rise, many argue, working and middle-class fans are priced out, and the game as a whole suffers.
The Premier League admitted as much in its price-cap announcement, saying that away fans are "essential for match atmosphere and stimulate the response from home fans." On top of overall rising tickets costs, fans of visiting teams have to factor in travel and lodging to attend away matches.
The price-cap will last for at least three seasons, and will ostensibly affect a handful of clubs that currently charge more than £30 for away tickets -- i.e. eight of the 18 Premier League clubs who participated in a recent BBC analysis of ticket costs.
As if we needed further proof of the Premier League's popularity, the league says its stadiums were 95.9 percent full over the past two seasons.
Sam Laird is Mashable's Senior Sports Reporter. He covers the wide, weird world of sports from all angles -- as well as occasional other topics -- from Mashable's San Francisco bureau. Before joining Mashable in November 2011, his freelance work appeared in publications including the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, Slam, and East Bay Express. Sam is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, and basketball and burritos take up most of his spare time. Follow him on Twitter @samcmlaird.
