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Revealed: Premier League Clubs Charge Up To £600 For Children To Be Mascots by ify84(m): 10:35pm On Dec 18, 2014 |
More than half the Premier League clubs have been accused of “excluding families from poorer backgrounds” after a Guardian study found that a few of them are charging as much as £450 for children to be mascots, with West Ham United’s the most expensive package at £600. With the average price of a replica kit for a junior fan costing £65, according to the study, parents faced with forking out for matches over the festive period are having to count the increasing cost of following a top-flight club. Eleven Premier League teams, most of whom have spent time in the Championship in the past 10 years, ask a fee for being a mascot on matchday. Queens Park Rangers and Swansea City both charge £450 plus VAT for their packages while West Ham’s prices range from £350- £600 depending on the fixture. The packages vary between £250-400 at Tottenham, £300-400 at Leicester City, £150-425 at Crystal Palace and £330-390 at Stoke. Burnley, West Bromwich Albion and Hull City also charge, while Newcastle United’s corporate hospitality packages of £3,000-4,000 include mascot places. Some clubs, including Spurs, QPR and Newcastle, do, however, offer a number of free mascot places through competitions and charities. Others do not charge at all: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Southampton and Sunderland. Clive Efford, the shadow minister for sport who is campaigning for fans to be represented on club boards, said: “I find it extraordinary that clubs which are getting so much money from TV rights then exclude kids from poorer backgrounds by imposing a fee. “It means that a certain class of kids will never be able to be a team’s mascot, and that doesn’t seem fair when their clubs are earning so much money. It seems ridiculous that some will be excluded because their parents can’t afford to put them on a waiting list.” The majority of the mascot packages include hospitality places at the designated match, a free kit, signed footballs, photos of the day, match tickets and other benefits. Some clubs, including Swansea and Stoke, describe the deals as “great value for money” and say that there are long waiting lists, yet supporters have questioned the need for Premier League clubs, many with super-rich owners, to charge such prices. A spokesman for the Swansea City Supporters’ Trust said: “The pricing of mascot packages is higher than we would like as a trust and we are pressing to get this price reduced.” Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust added: “There is a general feeling that it’s a poor show to charge for being a mascot.” A spokesman for the QPR1st fans’ group said: “£450 to be a mascot … We think it would be much better if the club used mascot opportunities as a chance to get local schools involved more with the club. For a club like QPR, which really relies on community support, that is poor.” The survey also found that the average cost of a full Premier League junior kit – including shirt, shorts and socks – is £65, while a number of clubs charge more than £250 for an under-16 season ticket. Matchday ticket prices vary significantly from club to club and while reduced prices can be found, the burden on parents to fund a child’s burgeoning support is evident. An average full kit for a junior fan, which most clubs regard as under-16 and others as under-18, costs £65. Newcastle offer the cheapest kit at £50.50, with Chelsea’s being the dearest at £77. A small number of Premier League jerseys are available at a discounted rate via the retailer Sports Direct – the former Newcastle sponsor – yet most fans have to purchase strips through official channels and there are significant additional costs for names, numbers and Premier League badges to be printed on the shirts. The founder of Mumsnet, Justine Roberts, said: “Mumsnet users when surveyed said overwhelmingly that they think football merchandise is a rip-off and with an eight-year-old’s replica kit costing over £65 you can see why.” Kevin Miles, the chief executive of the Football Supporters’ Federation, described the costs as “counter- intuitive”. “So many of the trappings around football, like junior replica kits and mascot opportunities are designed to win a place in the hearts of children for the football club. It then seems counter-intuitive to make those things themselves extortionately priced,” said Miles. http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/dec/18/premier-league-clubs-charge-600-children-mascots
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Re: Revealed: Premier League Clubs Charge Up To £600 For Children To Be Mascots by thaoriginator: 10:42pm On Dec 18, 2014 |
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