Bolton Wanderers reaction given to 'frustrating' update before QPR fixture | OneFootball

FLW's Bolton fan pundit reacts to QPR charging £41 for away tickets in their meeting later this month

Bolton Wanderers are back in the Championship after a seven-year exile, and with that comes the opportunity to visit grounds that they haven't played at for quite some time.

Their first away league game of the season provides that, as Steven Schumacher's side travel to Loftus Road for the first time since March 2019 for a meeting with QPR on August 22.

However, unlike seven years ago, Bolton fans are being charged what many believe to be over the odds for match tickets, especially for a game in the capital, which has its own cost issues before you even get to the ground.

Indeed, the cheapest adult ticket on sale for Wanderers fans for the game a week on Saturday is £33, and that comes with a restricted view. A gold ticket, meanwhile, costs £41 for an adult, with an Under 23s ticket costing £30 at that level, too.

Bolton Wanderers fan pundit reacts to QPR ticketing prices

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Understandably, this has drawn some outcry from match-going fans, who feel they are being priced out of going to follow their team away from home.

Granted, this isn't just a QPR-exclusive grumble. Bolton themselves are charging £36 for an adult ticket for Preston North End fans on the opening day. It's still cheaper than what the Hoops are offering, but to many, that's still too much.

Whether it's due to that, or a general understanding of the struggle to generate revenue across the Championship, FLW's Wanderers fan pundit, Liam O'Meara, gets why QPR are charging such extortionate prices.

"I think it's frustrating, but it's understandable," he said. "This is the Championship where, essentially, the clubs are running at such a low revenue-to-wage turnover, as high wages are being spent to compete.

"The TV deals aren't necessarily at Premier League level, but some of the wages being spent are, so the revenue has to come from somewhere, and I think, until an EFL and Premier League TV and distribution deal comes out, this is the direction that ticket prices will go.

"Ultimately, those tickets will still sell out, and that's the point, really."

Evidently, there will still be Bolton fans who will begrudgingly buy those tickets to go follow their club, and while that still happens, home teams will continue to exploit that loyalty to try and bring in a bit more cash.

The current EFL TV deal compared to the Premier League TV deal

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With the new Squad Cost Ratio financial rulings restricting Championship clubs to spending a select percentage of their income on player and manager-related costs, increasing revenue is key to being able to progress and challenge in the division.

Sponsorships and player sales will help with that, but so will TV deals, and as O'Meara said, the disparity between the Premier League and the Championship is massive.

The current EFL broadcasting deal with Sky Sports is worth £935 million over five years from the start of the 2024/25 campaign. Meanwhile, the Premier League's deal with Sky and TNT is worth a whopping £6.7 billion over four years from the start of last season.

Championship clubs want to get to that level, but it's always difficult with big-money ownership groups and former top-flight sides who can generate income with ease. Therefore, upping away ticket prices can help increase that for the lower-market clubs in the division.

QPR's away ticket pricing brings into question the implementation of a Championship away ticket cap

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It's been a decade now since the Premier League introduced the away ticket price gap, meaning that clubs can charge no more than £30 for away fans in top-flight games.

Over those 10 years, away attendances have increased from 82% to 91%, bettering atmospheres and creating a more entertaining product.

It's always been a cause for conversation as to why the EFL hasn't followed suit, given the benefits that it's shown to have in the Premier League. For the most part, that was because the majority of clubs in the three divisions never charged that much for tickets.

Now, though, more are, and it has to only be a matter of time before the EFL consider implementing a cap, especially for the Championship, where ticket prices are increasing by the year.