The Premier League is reviewing its central support for clubs’ anti ticket touting operations after Todd Boehly’s involvement with Vivid Seats brought the matter to widespread public attention last year, The Chelsea Chronicle can reveal.
Sources say the Premier League is in talks with clubs and new measures will be publicised if and when they are agreed.
Chelsea chairman and co-owner Boehly’s investment and influence over Vivid Seats was investigated by the Premier League in 2025 but deemed not to constitute a breach of the Owners’ and Directors’ Test, nor indeed any other rule.
In a letter to the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust, Premier League CEO Richard Masters said the league “takes the matter of ticket touting seriously” and is “aware of the significant impact it has on fans.”
Chelsea FC v Tottenham Hotspur - Premier League
Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Vivid Seats does not sell football tickets within the UK, where it would be illegal to do so.
It does, however, allow third-party resale – often at vastly inflated prices – through its marketplace to customers overseas, where the 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act does not have jurisdiction.
Chelsea’s website says “match tickets become invalid if someone pays more than the face value for the ticket or buys it from a tout or an unauthorised online ticket agency or reselling platform.”
The club itself, like many in the Premier League, has intensified their fight against ticket touting in recent years, claiming to have suspended 16,000 memberships and blocked 60-80,000 bots purchases per game.
Matchday income is a perceived weakness which Boehly and the wider BlueCo ownership group want to address, with Chelsea’s takings through the turnstiles last season at £87m lagging significantly behind Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool. A move away from Stamford Bridge has long been discussed, as has the potential expansion and further commercialisation of the stadium.
But the ownership is said to be split on the stadium’s future, with Boehly reportedly favouring a new stadium while Behdad Eghbali’s preference is to stay at the existing site.
Chelsea’s matchday income is going BACKWARDS 📉
If you had a direct line to Boehly and Eghbali, how would you tell them to sort this out?
TalkingPoints graphic showing Chelsea's matchday income plotted against inflation
Chelsea matchday income vs inflation Credit: Adam Williams/The Chelsea Chronicle/GRV Media
The Premier League broke the £1bn matchday income barrier for the very first time last season, while clubs are either planning new stadium builds or expansions, are in the process of upgrading their facilities or have recently moved into new home grounds.
A decision on the future of Stamford Bridge is overwhelmingly unlikely to be made in time to help Chelsea comply with the terms of the four-year settlement agreement imposed on them by UEFA for breaching financial rules across 2024 and 2025.
Stamford Bridge now allocates around 25 per cent of its capacity to premium, corporate or hospitality seating and some sections of the fanbase have complained of a sterile atmosphere in recent seasons.
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