Sporty spenders

Dedicated fans are forking out a third more now than 5 years ago, with the Premier League season well underway, football fans are embracing their favourite time of the year by supporting their clubs – but at what cost?

A new report has revealed Premier League fans will shell out a whopping £1.3 billion this season to follow their teams, with increases in the price of home tickets, TV subscriptions and merchandise hitting their wallets hard. The report, by trading platform eToro in association with KPMG Football Benchmark, explored spending by match-going football fans over the past five Premier League seasons, incorporating everything from car and rail travel, merchandise, tickets, in-stadium food and drinks and TV subscriptions.

In the 2019/20 season dedicated fans are expected to spend over £23.8 million on replica shirts – a 31% increase in total spend since the 2014/15 season. Individually, match-going fans will fork out an average of £1,888 this season, with the biggest cost increases being TV subscriptions, merchandise, home tickets and food and beverage.

Aston spoke to Antonio Di Cianni, economist and Manager at KPMG’s Sports Advisory Practice to discuss the research in further detail and also uncover the most dedicated fans of premier league clubs.