Chelsea Executive Fans Face Big Price Hike - 17/05/2005

Some executive fans at Chelsea are facing having to pay £6,000 for a seat that cost them £1,750 for the season last year. The increased prices follow reconfiguration of the seating in the old directors' box area in the East Stand. The club argue that they are offering increased facilities and that alternatives are available, although the cheapest option of £2,500 would take them from a prime location on the halfway line near the penalty area. The outraged fans argue that the club is trying to cash in on its success and it is certainly (and understandably) doing that in other areas of commercial activity. Chelsea Broadband is being offered in conjunction with Viatel which signed a similar deal with Manchester United and is in talks with ten other clubs. Chelsea fans will get a two megabyte connection speed, unlimited downloads and a year's free subscription to Chelsea TV online. The Chelsea and United packages will sell for £28.99 compared with £19.99 for a similar offering from Easynet. Deals like this offer top clubs new possibilities for distributing content to fans. In the longer run it may raise questions about whether media rights should be split between companies such as BSkyB and broadband distributors. That might in turn widen the financial and playing gulf between the top clubs and the rest.