April 10 (Reuters) - Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan wrote to season ticket holders on Friday, urging the club's supporters to keep planned protests over ticket price increases "grounded in the facts" as fans prepare to demonstrate at Anfield.
Liverpool had announced last month that they would increase general admission ticket prices for the next three seasons -- a decision that did not sit well with the fans who plan to protest when they host Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday.
Hogan said the club
"respects the right of supporters to protest" but defended the decision due to an 85% rise in matchday operating costs over the past decade.
"We would also ask one thing in the days and weeks ahead: that any protest, and any debate, is grounded in the facts - what is changing, why it is changing, and what it means in real terms," Hogan wrote in the letter, as reported by British media.
Hogan also said utility costs jumped 107% over the past four years while business rates were up 286% in that same period.
'UNCONTROLLABLE COSTS'
"Over the last decade, we have increased ticket prices by just 4% to keep any rise in ticket prices to a minimum," he added.
"Against that backdrop, we believe linking any increases to inflation, confirmed as a 3% rise for the 2026/27 season, is the fairest and most transparent way to attempt to cover some of those uncontrollable costs."
In 2016, around 10,000 supporters headed for the exits during a Premier League game to protest against a proposal to increase ticket prices significantly, after which the club's American owners bowed to pressure and backed down.
Liverpool spent around 450 million pounds ($605.30 million) on new players in the close-season last year but the defending champions are fifth in the standings with seven games left.
Hogan said they had no choice but to increase prices, pointing to their competitors' pricing policies.
"We are also operating in a league where other clubs have increased prices at a materially higher rate over the past decade," Hogan said.
"Since 2016/17, our competitors in the top six have increased ticket prices by an average of 17%, where we have increased our prices by 4% over the same period.
"No decision has been made post this three-year approach and we will continue to meaningfully engage with our Supporters Board ahead of that time."
Reuters has contacted Liverpool for comment.
($1 = 0.7434 pounds)
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
