Date: 12th November 2026
The price v the value
By Donald C Stewart
In my professional life, as well as writing screeds on Scottish Fitba, I’m also a reviewer for theatre. The cost of theatre tickets over the last few years came starkly to mind the other month, where I was unable to attend a press night and offered to come to review on another night, but also to buy my ticket. I made this offer before looking at what the ticket was going to cost me and given that it was in the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, a theatre with a well-renowned regard to their audience, having offered for many, many, years an opportunity for locals in the Gorbals to get tickets at a steal, originally 50p, then it was up to a pound at one point, I was relatively confident that my suggested offer was going to cost me not much more than 15 or 20 quid.
Imagine my surprise where the cheapest ticket I could find was £42. I was fortunate enough that the press people wanted me to come and see the show and so therefore my press ticket was moved and it cost me the princely sum of nothing.
It reminded me of the privileged position I am in and it’s not the only time that the cost of going to see theatre has really hit home.
There’s the ongoing saga in the West End of London of tickets costing hundreds of pounds to go and see television and film stars try and replicate their ability on a screen on a stage.
It comes with very mixed responses.
I spoke to a fellow reviewer a few years ago who told me that they bagged a ticket to go and see one show that was retailing at £650 pounds. He said it was not worth the cover price but more importantly it also wasn’t worth the price that he had not paid for it.
I also go to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and each show on average costs £13. If you’re going to take a family with you and go and see a couple of shows on the day, pay for your food, perhaps even look for accommodation, then you need eye-watering sums of money where you potentially should be selling one of your children or trying to sell a kidney to fund the day out.
In essence, it costs to go away and see something.
It is not just the cost-of-living crisis that we’re in the middle of. Hospitality is suffering. We all may have hoped that the budget was going to give us a lot more than perhaps it did, but for Scottish football fans it costs a considerable amount every fortnight to follow your team.
If I take the analogy with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, it’s not just the cost of getting there, then negotiating your way into a venue, but it’s also the cost of any food or if you have to stay away, for example if Stranraer bag Ross County in a cup tie up at Dingwall, for an evening fixture, you will need a place to stay.
This all needs to be factored in, taken into consideration and in the midst of increased fuel prices, the hospitality industry really struggling to survive, it is hardly surprising that away fans are struggling to maintain their obvious joy at following their own team.
Down in England, there is a price cap on away tickets of £30. It’s not an inconsiderable sum for people on budgets or low income but it is at least a price cap.
Up here there is no plan to replicate that.
As it stands at the moment most of the 42 clubs are charging £30 or less but the possibility that they could up the ante and charge an eye-watering amount is there – supporters once again are disadvantaged especially working-class fans who will struggle to see a sport that began as a working-class treat.
It is increasingly becoming more likely to be on Santa’s list than on your list for the weekend.
Will the SFA or the SPFL step in and do something about it to ensure that the cost of following our national game does not end up beyond the means of the majority of people who want to follow it? Possibly not given the fact that revenues are always on the mind of any footballing authority and they are now looking for a new broadcast partner. This has brought into doubt retaining the three o’clock fixtures on a Saturday as sacrosanct and not available for broadcast. Perhaps money is too much of a driving force to force the authorities to act?
But if football continues to increase in price, then the atmosphere in games that allows the authorities to point out to broadcasters the possibility of increased revenues from their sponsorship will diminish and therefore a fiscal circle begins to descend down a plug hole.
Posted in: Fan's Blog, Latest News
Tags: Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Football, oor Donald, Scottish football