Chelsea chiefs savaged as £50m payout revealed by Kieran Maguire
It is “harsh” for Chelsea to increase ticket prices for fans after paying former directors £50million as part of the takeover deal.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that the Blues board are “milking fans” by increasing prices.
Chelsea have decided to increase the price of tickets at Stamford Bridge in the 2024-25 season despite the club’s underwhelming performances this season.
The decision was criticised by the Chelsea Supporters Trust, who recently wrote to the club to warn owners of “irreversible toxicity”.
Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly have failed to win over the club fanbase and recent accounts from BlueCo revealed that £50million was paid out to former directors at the club as part of the takeover deal.
Chelsea criticised for price hike after £50m payout comes to light
Maguire explained that Chelsea are currently trailing behind their Premier League rivals in terms of matchday revenue and have now turned towards “milking fans”.
“We’ve seen senior figures at Bayern Munich say that a 10 percent increase of ticket prices would only gain an extra £2million,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“To be honest, it doesn’t really touch the sides.
“The problem that Chelsea have is that their revenues from matchday are noticeably lower than Manchester United, Spurs, Arsenal and Liverpool.
“They are behind four of the big six and we’re now moving to a cost control measure which links revenue to wages.
“However, it does seem harsh on the fans given that Todd Boehly and others were more than happy to give £50million in bonuses to former Chelsea executives when they acquired the club.
“If they can afford to do that, then milking fans for every nickel and dime seems harsh.“
In other news, Chelsea set to be charged ‘soon’ for Roman Abramovich breaches
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