Tottenham Hotspur’s future is bright as the club barrels towards the new season, one of which that will be spent at Wembley Stadium before the new grounds open in 2018. During the the entire process, the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust (THST) have been kept in the loop regarding dealings involving the club, the new stadium, and ticket pricing.
The last part of that has been a topic of heated debate since Stubhub doesn’t exactly have the best reputation out there for reasons we’ll discuss. Thankfully, this may be the last time we have to given that THST announced the club will be kicking Stubhub to the curb:
As this is the Club’s decision, it will release full details in due course. But there are some parts we do know at this stage.
We have always argued for a ticket exchange system to be run as a service to fans, not an additional revenue generator, and we are pleased that the Club has taken this on board. There will be no fees for the seller, which is very welcome. Buyers will pay face value plus a flat rate £7.50 transaction fee on the platform. We have pushed the transaction fee down from the initial figure suggested and would like the Club and Ticketmaster to have gone further, but this is a vast improvement on the fees charged by StubHub over the past few seasons.
We also think the seller should receive the face value of the ticket they are selling. Face value is the price the Club charges for entry to the match concerned. The Club’s position is that the seller will receive 1/19th of the value of their Season Ticket for each ticket they successfully sell via the ticket exchange.
This means that sellers would effectively receive over face value for Cat C matches and under face value for Cat A matches, essentially incentivising resale for the less attractive matches where attendance should be incentivised. Although, without confirmation of match day pricing, this is an informed assumption.
The past four seasons have seen Spurs utilize Stubhub for ticket resales, and almost nobody outside of the club has enjoyed seeing this. For those who have never used Stubhub, it’s about as easy as it can be to buy tickets that are available, but the cost is generally much higher than face value.
A perfect example of the above is the January match this past season against Chelsea. Members of supporters clubs throughout the world could enter a lottery and pay face value if they were selected. The highest price for a ticket to this match was £81, but when looking on Stubhub after the lottery was completed, those same tickets were going for in excess of £500. Easy access, but ridiculous pricing.
According to the statement by THST, everything is being moved in-house with some technical assistance from Ticketmaster. Prospective buyers will pay face value for their ticket and a £7.50 fee on top of that, which is more than reasonable. The club will get a little bit of money for the resale, the seller will get around the full value of their ticket, and the buyer gets to see a match live without having to open a second mortgage.
We all understand that ENIC got into this as an investment and want to maximize their profit, but this is a welcome announcement. THST has been fighting this battle for awhile now and for the club to acknowledge how much their supporters hated this setup and do away with it is more than just an olive branch, especially at a time where that extra Stubhub profit could be used toward the cost of the stadium.
In summary, good on everyone involved for speaking out and the club actually listening and doing something positive for the supporters.