A club-by-club list of costs to be a mascot, thanks to research by the Telegraph, shows the dear price of what many teams sell as a ‘once-in-a-lifetime experience’. To the credit of the Premier League, only seven of its 20 clubs charge for the privilege of walking side-by-side with your childhood idol, but it’s not a good look for Nottingham Forest who charge over £1200.

In a time when money drives nearly every aspect of life, it was almost inevitable that such an unforgettable moment would come with a price tag for some top-flight clubs. Walking out with your heroes on match day is a dream come true for any young football fan, but it could be a financial nightmare for parents at some clubs.

Public Accounts Commission chairman Clive Efford MP told the Telegraph after the most recent study: “Pricing working-class families out of ever being a mascot like this is pure greed. Considering the millions Premier League clubs get each year from TV deals, how can they justify charging for what for many is a childhood dream? They should be ashamed.”

But the fact of the matter is that money makes the world go around, and while that’s not set to change anytime soon, every Premier League’s mascot prices have been revealed below.

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Nottingham Forest Mascot Prices By Far The Highest

Walking out alongside the Tricky Trees costs a bomb

Parents of young Forest fans are having to pay significantly more than those at any other club for the chance to see their child walk out with the team. With packages priced between £1200 and £1800, depending on the fixture category, no other club charges nearly as much.

These packages include three guests. However, in a category A fixture, this still equates to £450-per-person. This comes after Aston Villa secretly ditched their inexplicable prices – Forest’s rivals for Champions League qualification previously charged the most at the start of the campaign, with prices ranging from £524 to £569. However, they now offer the chance to be a mascot for free to members, alongside seven other clubs that follow that procedure – Bournemouth, Leicester City, Manchester City, Southampton, Liverpool, Tottenham, and Arsenal.

Forest and Brighton – who charge up to £415 for packages – reject all criticism of pricing structures, pointing out they also hand out multiple places free of charge on any given matchday. “On a matchday, Nottingham Forest invite a minimum of two match mascots, with one of these being a participant invited from our Community Trust programmes and offered free of charge, and the other as part of a hospitality package which we can’t put a price on as it is sold as a wider package,” Forest said in a statement.

Brighton, meanwhile, say they give two free mascot spaces for every home game, and all away games, and “where we only have one mascot this package is free”. Remaining packages sold at up to £415 are “largely due to the fact that we were regularly asked for this service to be provided, prior to us offering”, the club said.

Big Six Clubs Don’t Charge Mascots

For once, supporting a bigger club has its financial benefits

Although seven clubs charge fans for mascot packages, none of them belong to the so-called ‘big six.’ Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham provide this experience free of charge to young fans, though some of them follow the aforementioned membership deal.

At Manchester City, Cityzens Junior members (£20 membership) can enter a random ballot for the chance to become a Premier League mascot. The City package includes a complete 2024/25 junior home kit, two complimentary match tickets (one for the mascot and one for an accompanying adult), a program, a goody bag, and free refreshments. Other clubs also offer similar packages, though with slight variations.

However, in the cases of Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, and Liverpool, these four clubs – while catering for the younger fans – charge the highest season ticket prices in the Premier League, with the Gunners’ cheapest adult season ticket coming in at a deterring £1,073.

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Other Clubs Have Scrapped Previous Charges

Tottenham and Leicester City among clubs to see that football is for everyone

Another club that has reversed its policy on charging for mascots like Villa is Bournemouth. Previously, mascot prices reached as high as £300 in 2023, but the experience is now free for junior members.

Leicester City also recently eliminated its mascot package fee, reducing the cost from £600 to £0 in 2023. Additionally, Tottenham removed their £405 charge last year, making them one of the latest clubs to abolish all mascot fees, making up a quartet of clubs who saw the value in the old adage that “football is for everyone”.

Chelsea Have a Waiting List

Some young fans will miss out on a Stamford Bridge applause

While being a mascot at Stamford Bridge comes at no cost at all (regardless of membership), the experience may not be accessible to everyone. Currently, there is a four-year waiting list to become a Chelsea mascot.

Children are only eligible between the ages of 6 and 12, so parents must apply before their child turns eight in order to join the waiting list. For some children, the experience may be too overwhelming at a young age, while those aged 9 to 12 may find they are too old by the time they reach the front of the line. But the club is one of just three (Newcastle and Manchester United also), that don’t require any hidden fees at all, while Everton’s is rumoured to be the same, and Fulham do theirs based on a £5 prize draw.