BBC Investigation Reveals Black Market Ticket Sales in Premier League
A BBC investigation has revealed the alarming ease with which Premier League tickets can be purchased on the black market.
The investigation involved acquiring tickets from four websites identified as "unauthorized" by the Premier League, enabling access to four matches over the past weekend.
These platforms claim to offer tens of thousands of tickets, although experts suggest that these figures are likely exaggerated.
While reselling football tickets is illegal in the UK, these companies operate from abroad in countries such as Spain, Dubai, Germany, and Estonia, thus evading UK laws.
So, who are these companies, and what else did the investigation uncover?
Understanding the Official Ticket Sales Process
The Premier League and its clubs only authorize ticket sales through their official platforms and designated partners, such as Ticketmaster. Supporters unable to attend a match are expected to sell or transfer their tickets via the official club exchange, which prioritizes members and maintains resale prices at face value, typically compensating sellers with credit on their club accounts.
Acquisition of Tickets
The Premier League maintains a list of websites deemed "unauthorized." From this list, we selected four sites with extensive listings accessible to UK customers.
Seat numbers were rarely provided; instead, descriptions like "longside lower tier" and "shortside upper tier" were used. A wide range of tickets was available, including hospitality options, with prices ranging from £55 to £14,962. All purchases included a service fee of approximately 25%.
Following our purchases, the sellers promptly contacted us. One representative from Seatsnet reached out mere seconds after payment, informing us to expect tickets with barcodes via email or WhatsApp shortly.
All tickets arrived later that week, including the one for Everton on the morning of the game. These were digital tickets, downloaded from an online link, ready to be scanned at the venue.
The Implications of Ticket Reselling
You may wonder what the issue is with using a secondary ticket site, especially if it grants access to a sold-out game just days before the match, as was the case with the Manchester derby.
However, our findings indicate that tickets were sold at significantly higher prices than their face value, leaving supporters financially disadvantaged. Additionally, the claim of thousands of available tickets suggests that these have been removed from general circulation, making it harder for fans to purchase tickets at standard prices directly from the clubs.
Moreover, there are concerns regarding segregation and safety. Our investigation found no checks on the supporters' affiliations. For instance, in the Manchester derby, we could have been Manchester United fans situated in the City section.
Profile of the Ticket Reselling Companies
The four internationally registered sites we explored are:
Live Football Tickets - Spain
Seatsnet - UAE
Ticombo - Germany
Football Tickets Net - Estonia
It appears that reselling Premier League tickets is a lucrative business for these companies. For example, the Madrid-based Livetix Group, which operates Live Football Tickets, reported a revenue of €19 million in its last public accounts. Seatsnet is registered in one of Dubai's 'free zones,' which provide tax exemptions and allow profits to be transferred overseas.
Connections in the Ticket Reselling Industry
All these websites market themselves as "ticket marketplaces," purportedly linking buyers with sellers. Notably, only Ticombo frequently displays the identities of sellers.
One seller, NGO Events, boasts over 14,000 listings on Ticombo. However, company records indicate that NGO Events is not an independent trader; it is managed by Thomas Senge, the director of Ticombo Switzerland. Senge and Ticombo's CEO, Atle Barlaup, previously served on the board of WorldTix, another major seller on Ticombo, suggesting a network of interconnected companies registered in the small Swiss town of Engelberg.
Ticombo stated that NGO Events and WorldTix are "partners of Ticombo" but follow the same regulations as other traders. Barlaup has a controversial history in the ticketing industry; in 2011, he admitted to paying FIFA vice-president Jack Warner €242,000 in cash for 820 World Cup tickets, which he later claimed was to expose corruption within FIFA.
Football Ticket Net also has a dubious history, currently registered in Estonia with shareholders from Israel. Under a previous parent company, which included one of its current shareholders, it was fined €600,000 by a French court for infringing UEFA's trademarks and selling tickets for European finals. Attempts to contact Live Football Tickets, Seatsnet, and Football Ticket Net for comment went unanswered.
Challenges with Resold Tickets
Despite our successful ticket acquisitions, entering the venues is not always guaranteed with resold tickets. We received multiple reports of supporters being denied entry. Crystal Palace fan Matt recounted paying £400 on a separate site, Fanpass, for his 79-year-old uncle to attend the FA Cup final, only for his uncle to be turned away at the gate due to a duplicate ticket being scanned just 20 minutes prior.
In messages viewed by the BBC, the seller boasted about sneaking in 200 other individuals to the match. Fanpass claimed, "Our priority is to ensure that every customer is able to attend the event for which they have purchased tickets. Cases in which a customer is denied entry are extremely rare."
Similarly, a Ticombo buyer named Alister experienced issues when his ticket failed. A tout met him outside the Emirates to provide a replacement ticket, which inadvertently placed him among home fans, leading to an uncomfortable situation. Alister stated, "The Arsenal fans didn’t want us there; it was inappropriate and completely unacceptable." Arsenal FC responded that they "take strong action against ticket touting."
How Tickets Make Their Way to the Black Market
Many tickets are obtained by touts using automated bots and fake identities. While it remains unclear if this method is employed by the companies mentioned, some tickets bear the name of the original holder, offering clues about their origin. Five tickets purchased from unauthorized sites and shared with us by fans featured names that could not be found in the UK electoral register, birth records, or social media.