Despite it clearly being against the rules and the policy of the club he co-owns, Chelsea chairman, Todd Boehly, has been unmasked as a ticket tout.
The American businessman appears to be something of a controversial figure at the club.
For example, it had been suggested previously that Chelsea’s owners don’t care about the club, and will effectively buy and sell any player in the squad, no matter the name or prestige.
Todd Boehly is in the headlines again
The ‘Americanisation’ of Chelsea will have also raised a few eyebrows in West London, but perhaps not as much as the latest revelation.
According to The Telegraph (subscription required), Boehly has been unmasked as a co-owner of a website that re-sells tickets “unauthorised” resale of tickets to Chelsea matches and other Premier League games to foreigners.
These tickets are sold at prices way beyond face value, and whilst the legalities around the ‘unauthorised’ re-sale are questionable, it is technically still a legal practice.
It’s certainly morally wrong, and with The Telegraph noting that the website – Vivid Seats – charges 10 per cent commission and a service fee of up to 40 per cent of the original ticket price, it’s clear that Boehly needs to answer questions.
The outlet also note that some tickets for Liverpool’s last match of the season are on site for an eye-watering £17, 672.
“The fact that our owner could be benefiting personally at the expense of loyal supporters is hypocritical at best and downright dishonest at worst,.” a Chelsea supporter told The Telegraph.
“Touting is a huge issue at Chelsea at the moment and it’s getting worse. There are fewer and fewer tickets available for supporters on a general admission, match-by-match basis.”
Chelsea name dragged through the mud by Todd Boehly
Clearly, supporters of various clubs are going to take a very dim view of the fact that a Premier League club’s co-owner is profiting at their expense.
When tickets to the very top matches are so hard to come by nowadays, it really sticks in the craw that they are available… at a vastly inflated price.
Boehly, a billionaire, doesn’t need to be involving himself in such shady practices, and the latest revelations only bring further scrutiny upon him.
Dragging Chelsea’s name into the gutter too surely has to be a tipping point.
The way that travelling fans are treated by Chelsea is a disgrace they have a point system in place and there is no way you can get enough points to get a ticket if you stay in Ireland.I was a true blue member and used to go to between 6-8 games a year with my wife then all of a sudden in the last few years it became harder and harder to get match game tickets so we never renewed our membership it was just throwing money down the drain.It is even more sickening when your watching a game from a pub or a hotel and you see empty seats around the stadium I find it despicable