Brentford CEO Jon Varney Discusses Junior Ticketing Initiative and Diversity Efforts

Brentford chief executive Jon Varney spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live regarding the Bees’ new ticketing initiative, which ensures junior fans will not have to pay more than £10 for their tickets. Varney stated, “I think the move is really a build on the £30 cap for adult away tickets at Premier League matches.” He added, “There is a great deal of inconsistency around ticket pricing for juniors and we wanted to clean that up.” He further commented, “We feel it is a good initiative which will help build that next generation of travelling away fans, which we know is so integral to the game.” Varney explained, “I think you have to look at each business in an individual way and look at the levers you can pull to drive your revenue. Obviously our stadium isn’t the largest in the Premier League, so we focus very heavily on the areas we can drive revenue through.” He emphasized the importance of cultivating future supporters, stating, “It is critically important to the game that we build that next generation of supporters. We really feel that Gen10 does that.” Varney also mentioned efforts to support away fan travel, noting, “We have also tried to look at subsidies for away fan travel because we know how expensive it is to put petrol in a car or jump on a train, so we have a partnership with a train operator where there is a 20% discount for away fan travel as well.” Additionally, Varney addressed recent developments concerning the Premier League’s Rainbow Laces campaign. Varney commented, “It’s not a situation that has been presented to us before, so we are talking about hypotheticals.” He continued, “What I can say is that these matters are really personal to each individual and therefore it is difficult to make any sweeping statements.” Varney affirmed Brentford’s commitment, stating, “At Brentford, we want everybody to feel at home. We want to open our doors and make our fans feel really welcome, regardless of their faith or background.” He concluded by emphasizing support for Premier League initiatives, saying, “I think it’s really important that we support the policies and activities that the Premier League are doing. They are focusing on people that haven’t previously felt welcome at football matches, so I think we have a fantastic platform to promote more diversity at our football grounds. We will continue to support that.”