The price of Premier League football has been a key top for
discussion in recent years but high prices have not dampened demand,
particularly at the top end of the Premier League.
This means that demand is high and for bigger games the demand is
huge, not just from within the club’s domestic fanbase but from across
the world.
Where there is demand there are people looking to make money and one
of the blights on getting tickets into the hands of fans at fair prices
are ticket touts. These operators parasitically feed off the passion of
football fans from across the world to make a living reselling tickets
at well above face value.
Ticket touting is very much out in the open, go on the internet or
come out of Fulham Broadway tube station on a Chelsea match day and you
will hear the whisper of ‘tickets to buy or sell’ from touts often
within 10 or 20 yards of uniformed policemen.
These traders go about their business almost unmolested and the
losers are the real fans that want to watch the match. The access these
touts seem to have to regular tickets reduces the number of tickets fans
can buy officially and the prices charged can be several times the face
value depending on demand for the fixture.
However, it seems touts are becoming more brazen with their tactics,
with demand for next week’s game between Manchester City and Chelsea
generating huge demand. The touts are targeting fans with the promise of
a high price should they sell their tickets and even handing out flyers
advertising their service.
The FA and clubs talk about making the game more accessible to fans
of the club, however organised touting networks such as the one in this
picture show the trade in tickets continues to grow.
The best way for the FA and clubs to support fans who want to get
behind the club at a fair price is a concerted effort to drive these
types of businesses out of the game.
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