Industry News

Tottenham Hotspur ditch StubHub partnership for season at Wembley

English Premier League football club Tottenham Hotspur has confirmed it will not renew its partnership with resale platform StubHub.

With sales and allocation underway, the club announced that any season ticket holder that is unable to attend a home fixture at Wembley Stadium for the 2017-18 season will no longer need to put it on StubHub.

Tottenham will play at the national stadium during the 2017-18 season as work on the Premier League club’s new home ground is completed.

From 2017-18, fans will be able to list their seat via the Tottenham Ticket Exchange system that will operate in conjunction with Ticketmaster.

In doing so, tickets will be listed at face value, something that the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust (THST) has been demanding for several years.

THST said on its website: “We are delighted that THFC has decided not to renew its partnership with StubHub. THST has opposed the deal for four seasons and, with your support, had some success in restricting the original model’s ability to drive up prices.

“This represents a very welcome move away from the incentivised touting we’ve seen on StubHub over the past four seasons and gives the Club much more flexibility over the running of the platform, something that will benefit fans.”

Season ticket holders will also receive one-19th of the cost of their entire package when their seat is sold for a Premier League fixture. The supporters will be able to decide whether they receive the rebate in the form of a monthly payment or have the funds held to be used as a payment against the cost of their 2018-19 season ticket.

In addition, those buying tickets via the Ticket Exchange will pay a single fixed fee of £7.50. THST said the fee is a “vast improvement on the fees charged by StubHub over the past few seasons.”

The statement on the THST website continued: “The long campaign we fought over StubHub has, thanks to the support of members and national supporter organisations, been successful and shows fans can make our voices heard.

“The end result has been to secure a system that offers fans the opportunity to exchange tickets they cannot use without driving prices up, and that offers the club flexibility.”

Last month, Tottenham also announced that its fans would be paying less to watch their team next season after the club unveiled its ticket pricing structure for Wembley Stadium.

Spurs’ capacity at White Hart Lane this season has been just 32,000, but it could play all 19 league games in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley.

The cheapest adult season ticket for 2017-18 will be £695 ($900/€820), which is £70, or around 10 per cent, less than this year.

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