Aston Villa set for eight-figure financial uplift after Champions League controversy
Aston Villa are in line for an eight-figure uplift after a recent Champions League controversy, according to football finance expert Dan Plumley.
The Villans have come under fire from supporters after they confirmed tickets for their group stages fixtures at Villa Park would be priced at £85, £94 and £97 with season ticket holders given discounted rates [BBC Sport, 4 September].
Villa are set to pocket £1.5million more in matchday revenue per game than they did in the Premier League last season which Plumley suggests could see them earn upwards of £10million over the course of the group stage.
“There will certainly be an uplift,” Plumley exclusively told Villa News.
“The Champions League is a bit different because they’re extra games and there is a prestige around that competition.
“It’s tricky to measure exactly because of the nature of season ticket holders and non-season ticket holders because we know that Villa have given a slight discount to season ticket holders for these matches.
“But even if you based these additional games on season ticket holder prices, you can easily get to an additional £2.5million a match on a ballpark basis.
“That for four matches could then generate you somewhere around an extra £10million.
“For comparison, their average matchday revenue in 2023 was around £1million per match, so if they can generate £2.5million from a Champions League game, the uplift is potentially £1.5million per game.
“That’s not insignificant and of course, we can see exactly why Villa have done it because they have come out and said just as much.
“But it’s about how you view that £1.5million extra in the context of the total revenue that you generate from the competition, prize money and broadcasting.
“There is probably more of a significant uplift for Villa when compared to the West Ham concessions argument.
“We understand why they’ve done it, but again it’s going to generate some marginal gains that could be an extra £1.5million for each of those four matches, based on an average Premier League game.”
How much are Aston Villa charging for Champions League tickets at Villa Park?
Whether or not that sort of financial windfall is worth upsetting supporters over is open to debate as an extra £1.5million per fixture doesn’t appear to be that much in the modern footballing world.
But with profit and sustainability restrictions as they are currently in the Premier League, it is only natural that the Villans will look to maximise every revenue stream available to them on and off of the pitch.
In other Aston Villa news, the Villans’ ticket prices have been labelled “unrealistic” after new Champions League developments
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