Chelsea won their fourth consecutive WSL title last season. Photo: Getty Images/Justin Setterfield
Chelsea have significantly increased ticket prices for the women's Telegraph Sport understands that the fans found them too cheap. , which they will play at the men's team's traditional home, Stamford Bridge. , up to a minimum of seven per season, including four WSL matches plus all Women's Champions League games.
The rest of the home matches will continue to be played at Kingsmeadow, but the massive increase in fixtures at Stamford Bridge is seen as a move that is critical to revenue growth and investment in the women's team.
WSL four-match packages range from £50 to £170 for adults, more than last season's full season pass, while Kingsmeadow passes will start at £60 for adults and £30 for discounts. Prices for the Champions League have not yet been determined.
In 2022, manager Emma Hayes called all women's football tickets 'too cheap' and there is a broader perception in the women's game that some fans are not 'afraid of missing out' if they paid only a relatively small amount for tickets. their tickets, which often resulted in no-shows and empty seats at matches that were officially sold out.
This has often resulted in some frustrated fans not being able to buy tickets for a «sold out» match and then seeing empty seats at the match on TV.
Last season's ticket prices for Chelsea Women's
An example of this issue was this year's FA Women's Cup Final which was technically sold out but then had a matchday attendance of 77,390 indicating thousands of empty seats and understandably Chelsea received feedback from their supporter groups , which indicated that fans would be happy to pay more.
Last season in the WSL, a young fan could buy a Kingsmeadow season ticket for as little as £5, which is less than £1 per match. There is currently at least a sixfold increase in discount season tickets to £30, although this is still significantly lower than the cost of a season ticket to view most men's football teams and lower than most individual football teams. men's premier league matches.
In an attempt to modernize their women's team's ticketing system after a study told them that different groups of fans sometimes attend matches at Kingsmeadow, but not always at Stamford Bridge, or vice versa , fans will be able to purchase three different types of season tickets/packages. .
Stamford Bridge package for all four of their WSL matches there, «Kingsmeadow season ticket» for all other seven WSL home matches and/or the so-called «European matches under the package of lights.
< p>The west London club movement comes at a time when women's teams are trying to find ways to make themselves more financially sustainable as clubs rather than relying on funding from their male sister clubs. owners.
And Chelsea's move to four WSL games a year at Stamford Bridge is similar to Arsenal's recent decision to increase WSL matches at the Emirates to five home games.
Chelsea said in a statement that the move «reflects the continued growth of women's football.»
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