After facing a call to sell the Red Sox, Fenway Sports Group moved to quell protests from Liverpool fans by backing down over planned ticket price increases.
Liverpool said Thursday it had changed its mind about inflationary price hikes planned over the next three years.
The Premier League champion had been accused of greed by fans, who refused to spend money on drinks and food in the club’s Anfield Stadium by way of protest. Thousands of fans held up yellow cards during a recent game against Crystal Palace with the message “Caution: Anfield’s Soul at Risk.”
The unrest came at a time when Red Sox fans have also voiced their anger at principal owner John Henry and Boston’s chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. Last week, a plane towing a banner imploring the ownership to sell the team flew over Fenway Park during batting practice.
While Red Sox fans have been angered by a poor start to the season, which resulted in the firing of manager Alex Cora on April 25, Liverpool supporters have accused the hierarchy of “disregarding” fans over price hikes.
They welcomed the reversal, which will now see an inflationary rise next season and prices frozen the following year.
Fan group Spirit of Shankly thanked those at Liverpool who “listened to us and engaged with us, not all club hierarchies would have done the same.”
In February, Liverpool announced record revenues of more than $952 million for the year to May 2025. It was the highest-ranked Premier League team in terms of revenue, according to Deloitte and behind only Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain in Europe.
That only added to anger from fans when price hikes were announced in March. Spirit of Shankly said at the time: “We should not be conned into thinking it is normal for prices to go up each season. This is a choice LFC are making and one that is driven by greed.”
While fans have acknowledged the success achieved under FSG — including two Premier League titles and the Champions League — they said the price increases were “tone-deaf and worrying.”
Liverpool said Thursday it would “seek longer-term alternative solutions” and “explore commercial ideas with the Supporters Board” to try to avoid future ticket price increases.
But it added that “without wider progress on alternative solutions, future inflationary increases may still be required.”
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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
