Newcastle United make public 43 people banned so far this season for selling-on tickets for home games | OneFootball

It has now been revealed by Newcastle United, that 43 people have been banned so far this season for selling-on tickets for home games.

The club say that this includes season ticket holders and members.

A frequent complaint from those fans who don’t have season tickets and are unsuccessful in match by match sales, is how many home tickets appear on re-selling sites at inflated prices.

When it comes to home tickets, the club state that ‘This season, 52,000 bot attacks from SeatGeek have been identified and prevented. There are currently 750 ongoing cases from last season and this season where supporters are being monitored for ticket touting. These are monitored by being alerted by other supporters that they are reselling or irregular buying patterns.’

Newcastle United have made this information available, following the most recent FAB (Fan Advisory Board) meeting with NUFC senior club officials, that was held on Monday 4 November 2024.

The minutes from this matter have now been made public this (Tuesday 3 December 2024) morning and they included the following…

This season, 52,000 bot attacks from SeatGeek have been identified and prevented. There are currently 750 ongoing cases from last season and this season where supporters are being monitored for ticket touting. These are monitored by being alerted by other supporters that they are reselling or irregular buying patterns.

43 people have been banned so far this season for selling-on tickets for home games, this includes season ticket holders and members.

FAB member Michael McCarthy agreed that its important people know this information about these sites and has seen £400 resale tickets, with fans thinking club is doing nothing about it, however as noted by YT the club are taking action against this, and this should be communicated to supporters.

The club are doing tests to buy tickets ourselves.

FAB member Adam Stoker asked how to find people who tout the tickets?

NUFC Director, Commercial Venue, Yvette Thompson explained the problem is people use reselling ineffectively and buy from these sites.

FAB member Paul Karter acknowledged that some fans are desperate and will pay the money to get them, however the club strongly recommend that fans do not engage with these ticket touting websites to obtain tickets.

NUFC Director, Commercial Venue, Yvette Thompson reaffirmed that if a supporter ends up under investigation when a ticket goes red, the supporter will lose money, and they won’t get their money back. The club will then know who they are because the tickets go red, with the report coming to the club which would lead to consequences to the original ticket holder/purchasing supporter as noted below.

FAB member Adam Stoker asked if this will lead to empty seats where people aren’t at fault?

NUFC Head of Ticketing Chris Parkinson explained the current process.

If a fan comes to a home game and the ticket, they purchased from a third-party site has been touted, the club will therefore cancel the ticket once it has been identified as sold by a tout. After cancelling the ticket, we would then allow the supporter the chance to buy the ticket at face value so they become the legal buyer of that ticket. Once they have bought the ticket the club provide them with information on how they can attempt to claim their money back from where they originally bought the ticket from.

NUFC Head of Ticketing Chris Parkinson added this is only possible once and therefore if the same seat has been resold on multiple times, then we can’t resell them the seat they have purchased as someone else has now purchased this legitimately. We will still provide information to these people on how they can claim their money back.

The banning punishment is that the season ticket is cancelled, and membership cancelled indefinitely.

FAB member Michael McCarthy said it would be disincentive if people know about the investigations.

NUFC Chief Commercial Officer Peter Silverstone reassured that the club do say it often but perhaps it is not sufficiently publicised that we’ve banned people. It is explained that supporters will lose money and not be allowed in, but the message can get lost when fans see others being successful getting around the rules.’