The honour of being a football mascot is a charming tradition. Opportunities for young supporters to feel close to their heroes and clubs are few and far between, and it doesn’t get much closer than leading the team out for a game.
Even Premier League and Championship clubs offer the chance to be a mascot. In an era in which football at the top level can feel sanitised, the persistence of this custom is to be applauded.
However, where there’s access to be gained, there’s money to be made. The matchday mascot has become another aspect of football’s great tug-of-war between community and commerce.
How much does it cost to be a matchday mascot?
For many football fans of a traditionalist bent, the role of the matchday mascot is seen as a privilege, not just a purchase. Building the next generation of fans is important and the ability to provide a magical experience is a great way to forge unbreakable connections that last for life.
But it hasn’t always been a free experience, and it’s not always a free experience now. In some places, it’s actually very expensive. The social implications of that are obvious: some families can afford it and others can’t. Clubs need to make money but that particular division is problematic.
Research by OLBG has revealed surprisingly positive developments in the Premier League, where the clubs have started bringing their matchday mascot offering into line with what should be acceptable.
In the 2023-24 season, five of the current Premier League clubs researched offered matchday mascot experiences for a price. The highest fee by far was charged by Aston Villa, where being a mascot cost more than £500.
Villa have made some questionable commercial decisions in the past couple of years but scrapping the mascot fee was a win in the eyes of supporters.
Brighton & Hove Albion (£240 – £340, down from £375), Ipswich Town (£250), West Ham United (£175 – £375) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (£290 – £395, down from £450) are the Premier League clubs covered in the study that apply a charge to be a matchday mascot.
If the news is broadly positive in the Premier League, one or two clubs in the Championship should be taking note.
OLBG found that eight of the clubs covered in the research charge parents and guardians to have their young ones lead out the team on a matchday. Several of those fees are higher than those in the Premier League.
According to the research, Middlesbrough, Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield United charge £350 per mascot, while Bristol City and Blackburn Rovers matches can push as far as £275.
Norwich City’s fee is a worryingly open-ended £275+ and one club applies a range of charges between £350 and £400.
Millwall are the club whose mascot fees exceed those of every Premier League club.
Here are all the fees identified by the OLBG research:
