Ashes, Wimbledon and Silverstone ticket prices put cost of watching sport in focus
A BBC Sport comparison of major events finds higher ticket prices for 2027, while fans following sport on television face rights spread across several services.
Edgbaston’s cheapest adult ticket for a day of the 2027 men’s Ashes Test in Birmingham is £115, up from £65 when Australia last played there in 2023, BBC Sport reported on 8 October 2026. Its comparison of major events also found higher prices at Wimbledon and Silverstone, adding to the cost facing fans who want to watch sport in person.
The comparisons concern selected events and ticket types, rather than a single price for sport across Britain. They matter because a fan’s choice can extend beyond paying more for a seat: BBC Sport also described the multiple television subscriptions needed to follow different football competitions. Organisers cited rising costs and the value of a live experience when explaining their prices.
What 2027 Ashes tickets cost at Edgbaston
Edgbaston lists the men’s Ashes Test for 8–12 July 2027. Its published prices include £35 tickets for under-16s and £25 tickets across all stands on day five, with day-five under-16 tickets at £5. The venue says every ticket carries a £2.50 booking fee and prices are subject to change. Those options make the BBC’s £115 comparison a starting price for the adult tickets it examined, not a price for every spectator or every day.
An Edgbaston spokesperson told BBC Sport that entry-level prices roughly match inflation since Australia’s 2023 visit, while the ground faces higher operating costs. That is the venue’s explanation for its pricing; the published comparison alone does not show how much of the rise comes from inflation, event costs or other decisions.
England cricket fan Lee Hanlon, who lives near Edgbaston, told BBC Sport he had decided against attending next summer’s Ashes because of the increase. He said he felt ordinary cricket fans were being priced out. In a poll on its website, 95% of respondents told BBC Sport that 2027 Ashes tickets were too expensive. The report gave no sample size or methodology for that poll, so the result cannot be treated as a measure of all fans’ views.
How Wimbledon and Silverstone prices compare
For the 2027 Wimbledon singles finals, BBC Sport reported that standard seats range from £255 to £400. The top price is £50 above 2026 and more than twice its 2017 level. The report also put a Centre Court ticket for the tournament’s middle Saturday at a minimum of £130. These are different seats and sessions; the finals price is not the cost of every Wimbledon visit.
At Silverstone, BBC Sport reported that general admission for the 2027 British Grand Prix on race day starts at £289, compared with £189 in 2021. The cheapest allocated seat is at least £609, against £276 five years earlier. The separate general admission and allocated-seat figures show how strongly the price can depend on the kind of access a fan chooses.
The report put 2027 Ryder Cup general admission at Adare Manor in Ireland at €499 (£434), compared with up to €260 (£220) at the 2023 event in Italy. For events held in 2026, it cited £150 for a day at The Open at Royal Birkdale against £95 at St Andrews in 2022, and a £50–£285 range for the FA Cup final against £50–£120 in 2016. Those figures compare different venues and years, rather than tracking an identical seat over time.
Why organisers say live sport costs more
R&A chief executive Mark Darbon told BBC Sport that ticketing contributes less than 20% of The Open’s total revenue. He said its hosting costs had risen 25% over five or six years, adding £10m–£12m. Darbon also said the organisation benchmarks its prices against other major events and sees greater value being placed on attending live experiences. These are the R&A’s account of its costs and pricing approach, as reported by the BBC.
The Open offers half-price tickets for people aged 16–24 and free tickets for children, BBC Sport reported. Those concessions sit alongside higher adult prices, but do not answer what a particular family would pay for travel or a full day out. Seat Unique chairman Richard Flint told the BBC that hospitality seats are increasingly sold individually and that premium-ticket income can help fund stadium work; the report did not establish how often that benefit reaches standard-ticket buyers.
Why watching from home can require several subscriptions
BBC Sport said a UK viewer seeking matches across the Premier League, Champions League and Scottish Premiership would need Sky Sports, TNT Sports, Amazon Prime and Premier Sports, plus a TV licence for matches shown on the BBC and ITV. Its example describes the spread of rights across services, not a quoted total monthly bill: a viewer’s cost depends on which competitions they follow and the subscriptions they take.
DAZN growth-markets chief executive Pete Oliver told BBC Sport that fragmented rights can make sport less attractive for fans trying to see everything in one place. He also cited competition for rights, inflation and the sums sought by leagues and athletes as factors in subscription costs. Those explanations do not establish a single cause of rising prices across different sports or services.
For now, the firmest figures are the advertised event prices and the comparisons reported by BBC Sport. Edgbaston warns that its prices may change, and the selected examples do not show what every fan will ultimately spend. They do show the choices confronting supporters: which event and seat to buy, whether a concession applies, and which broadcasts they most want to follow.
Sources and context
- UK sport tickets: Price increases analysed for the Ashes, Wimbledon, Silverstone and moreBBC Sport
- 2027 Major Match Day PricesEdgbaston Stadium / Warwickshire County Cricket Club
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.
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