BBC exposes Premier League ticket black market
A BBC investigation has exposed a black market operation that successfully sells thousands of tickets for Premier League matches.
BBC Sport reporters bought tickets to games at Arsenal, Everton, Manchester City and West Ham United and gained entry to the matches. Companies based overseas, including in a small Swiss town, are believed to be using memberships and computer software to get tickets through various clubs’ ticketing platforms.
Resale of football tickets is illegal in the United Kingdom and the Premier League includes the websites on their ‘unauthorised list’. At the four games where BBC Sport journalists successfully entered, tickets cost between two and four times the face value and some were transmitted via WhatsApp with UK-based phone numbers – making use of the switch to digital ticketing.
The BBC investigation has heightened calls for clubs, the Premier League and government to do more to crackdown on the black market.
