Chelsea, the English Premier League soccer club, have today unveiled a new partnership with global ticketing giant Ticketmaster.
Through the multi-year deal, the platform has been named as the West London side’s official ticketing partner.
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As part of the agreement, Ticketmaster’s technology will be used at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge home as the club seeks to “move towards a digital-first experience.”
This will see the deployment of digital tickets for the first time next season as the club seeks to enhance its ongoing efforts to clamp down on ticket touting.
Casper Stylsvig, chief revenue officer for Chelsea, has commented: “We are delighted to welcome Ticketmaster to the club at a crucial time, as we move towards digital ticketing for the 2025-26 season.
“Partnering with a leading force in the industry brings significant value to our operations, ensuring we offer our fans a smoother, safer experience with best-in-class products, while continuing to address the issue of ticket touts.”
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By GlobalDataThe issue of ticketing has been a contentious one among Chelsea fans recently, with many condemning US site Vivid Seats for selling Premier League match tickets for more than twice the price of a season ticket. The fan fury has been exacerbated by the fact that club chairman Todd Boehly is a director and investor in that ticketing platform.
Vivid Seats is listed by the Premier League among “unauthorized ticket websites” with a message urging fans to “exercise extreme caution when dealing with these websites.”
The Chelsea Supporters' Trust has written to the Premier League to ask that Vivid – given its ties with a club's shareholder – “ceases facilitating the sale of tickets for significantly above face value.”
Boehly – part of the consortium that replaced Russian Roman Abramovich as owner in 2022 – has not addressed accusations of a “conflict of interest” or claims he is undermining efforts to combat ticket touting.
While Chelsea's website says to only buy tickets in the UK from official sellers, it adds: “Many of the websites that advertise and sell tickets online are not within the jurisdiction of UK law.
“This means, while we report these sites when we see Chelsea tickets on them, there is little we can do to shut down the sites.”
In February, Chelsea also announced a sleeve sponsorship deal with events and ticketing company Live Nation through the end of the 2024-25 season.
Manchester City recently faced a backlash from fans after announcing a partnership with third-party ticket resale platform Viagogo.
Fans accused the reigning Premier League champions of being “tone deaf” for striking a global tie-up with the company.
Viagogo will directly sell hospitality tickets for Manchester City men’s home games from the club’s existing allocation, as well as match tickets for the club’s women’s team, on its platform.
