We're not printing money in the Championship - King

Coventry City owner Doug King says the decision to set ticket prices for the Championship game against West Bromwich Albion later this month and the Boxing Day match with Swansea City at £45 is down to the club "optimising where we can optimise".

Adults will be charged £45, seniors £40 and under-18s £35 to watch the games against the Baggies on 22 November and the Swans on 26 December, both at the Coventry Building Society Arena.

Currently, there is no cap on away ticket prices in the Championship, meaning costs can vary.

The Premier League has had a £30 cap in place since 2016-17 and voted unanimously to keep that for 2025-26.

It has led to calls from some West Brom fans to boycott the trip to the CBS Arena.

"We think local derbies are great experiences - Leicester, Birmingham, West Bromwich Albion... We think our local derby partners are big games," King told BBC CWR.

"Boxing Day is a critical game and has a lot of history. We always have a huge turnout and we need to optimise where we can optimise.

"When we need to discount and get people there on a cold midweek game in January, we'll do the same."

King said he knows people highlight the presence of the top-flight cap on away ticket prices but added there are other factors that make that decision easier - namely the new £6.7bn TV rights deal that sees the club finishing bottom of the Premier League this season receiving around £120m.

"People say the Premier League is capped at £30 but I say, 'Yeah but the Premier League has got £120m broadcast revenue and I've got a pittance'.

"We're not printing money in the Championship."

Coventry have sold just under 24,000 season tickets and around 3,000 for their family zone in the stadium with King saying the club makes "a couple of quid" from the youngsters that go there.

King says it remains a tough balancing act to keep club finances healthy and fans happy, on and off the pitch.

"I am aware of these things and also that we want to watch great football and get to where we want to get to," he said.

"There are sacrifices - that's the nature of the game - and it's getting more difficult in our league to be competitive and be sustainable."