Fans victorious: Premier League agrees to freeze away ticket prices at £30 for next three seasons

London: Premier League clubs have agreed to freeze the price of away tickets for travelling supporters at “no more than £30” ($43, 39 euros) for the next three seasons, officials announced on Wednesday. There have long been complaints from fan groups at the steady increase in ticket prices while Premier League revenues, particularly from lucrative broadcast deals, have skyrocketed. But now, in an acknowledgement of the contribution away fans make to the atmosphere of a matchday, their ticket prices will be held to a £30 ceiling at the same time as English top-flight clubs enjoy the proceeds of a £5.14 billion ($7.4 billion, 6.6 billion euros) television rights deal for 2016-2019, up 70 percent on the previous agreement. [caption id=“attachment_2665928” align=“alignleft” width=“381”] File photo of a Stoke City fan with his £46 ticket. Getty Images[/caption] “After consideration of a range of options, Premier League Clubs have today undertaken that away fans will be able to attend Premier League matches for the next three seasons and pay no more than a maximum of £30 for their tickets,” said a Premier League statement. The statement added that clubs recognised away fans’ “unique” status and that they were “essential for match atmosphere and stimulate the response from home fans that distinguishes Premier League matches from those of other leagues”. It also said: “Away fans have additional travel costs and pay individual match prices, as season ticket and other discounts are not available to them and the responsibility for them is shared between clubs and therefore it is right that there is a collective initiative to help them.” AFP