Former Everton chief Keith Wyness believes Man City could cause a “rebellion” among their fanbase if they continue to raise ticket prices.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – claimed that the money gained from raising prices is not worth the “PR disaster” City now face.
City supporters raised a banner at the Etihad Stadium accusing the club of “exploiting their loyalty” ahead of their 0-0 draw with Arsenal.
Protests came after City announced that ticket prices will rise by an average of five percent for all fans next season.
City announced record-breaking revenue of £713million in their 2022-23 accounts but their matchday revenue of £72million trailed behind some of their ‘Big Six’ rivals.
Man City on brink of ‘disaster’ after enraging fans
Finance expert Kieran Maguire told Football Insider that City are eager to raise prices to close a £70million gap to rivals Man United
Wyness told Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast: “It was strange coming from Man City.
“Of all the clubs, you’d think that City wouldn’t really need to be scraping around the edges for some extra money from the fan base.
“They’re not the only ones – we saw Spurs protest at the weekend as well.
“When you actually look at the amount of money that they’re going to be raising, it really isn’t worth it in terms of the PR disaster that it’s becoming.
“I’m very conscious that this is going to really start to be a rebellion fairly soon.“
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