Top Premier League clubs each have between 8 and 12,000 season tickets, memberships, and hospitality tickets in the hands of touts, according to a renowned security expert.
According to Reg Walker of Iridium Consultancy, it is a "significant, rising" issue that calls for "cohesive, coordinated action" from the relevant authorities.
Arsenal, Brighton, and Leeds have recently stated that they are toughening up on the problem, among other Premier League clubs who have been bringing it up.
The black market for Premier League tickets, according to Walker, is worth more than £50 million annually, but the true scope of the problem is "much underrated.".
Season by season, it undoubtedly gets worse, according to Walker. A significant football tout might have had a few hundred club memberships ten years ago.
"Now you're looking at touts that have, in some cases, more than 1,000 members.
In exchange for a small annual fee, fans can register their information with the club and gain access to special ticketing benefits before the general public.
At the Amex Stadium in January for their FA Cup fourth-round match, Brighton prevented 150 mostly Liverpool supporters from entering the home section.
The Seagulls learned that swindlers had created numerous fictitious accounts to purchase tickets from the organization before reselling them for up to £250. The club denied admission, describing the practice as an "absolutely shameless exploitation of football fans.".
Tuesday was the most recent day that Arsenal claimed to have blocked "100,000 suspected bots" from their ticketing website.
They also said in a statement that "a sizable number of season ticket and membership accounts have also been banned for suspicious touting activity.
Walker added that there have been a "small number of instances" of ticket touting corruption within clubs and that "certainly more could be done" and that "certainly it needs to be coordinated by the Football Association and the Premier League.".
"Rather than leaving it up to each individual club, there needs to be a unified, coordinated effort throughout the UK.
"This is a football problem; it is not a club problem. The FA and the Premier League must lead on this.
What is stated by the law?
According to Walker, the law as it is now is "completely inadequate.". Unauthorized individuals are prohibited from selling tickets to a specific football game under section 166 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994.
However, because it is a summary offense, the only punishment that can be applied to offenders is a fine.
Just 13 arrests were made for offenses related to ticket touting during the 2021–22 season, according to Home Office statistics on football-related offenses.
Since there were 104 arrests in 2013–14, this number has largely decreased from season to season.
According to Walker, one elite club canceled just under 8,000 memberships that touts had purchased in 2018.
He continued by saying that it is not unusual to see 200 fans per game turned away at ticket turnstiles for having invalid tickets, adding that this number only "scratches the surface.".
Walker, who works with the government on the issue and participated in anti-touting efforts at the 2012 Olympics, thinks more action is needed to protect fan safety because many marketed tickets frequently place supporters in areas designated for adversarial fans.
According to him, safety is the most important factor in the current situation.
Football is empathetic. It's very tribal, so if you're the lone Everton fan in the Liverpool end and your team scores and you celebrate, things won't go well.
It's crucial that spectators are kept safe because there is a serious issue with public safety, particularly given the regrettable rise in violence at football games.
"The legislation was implemented because organized groups of football hooligans were purchasing tickets in the section reserved for the fans of the opposing team and wreaking havoc.
We must take action to stop touting at football games in order to maintain public order and keep people safe because we don't want to repeat that scenario.
How is it being handled?
In an effort to combat ticket touting and for environmental reasons, many Premier League clubs have switched to digital tickets; however, some still use paper tickets.
Since going digital at the beginning of the season, Leeds United is said to have seen a noticeable improvement in lowering the number of people using invalid tickets to enter Elland Road.
The club has added more stewards and customer service representatives to the gates to assist fans who still use paper tickets and do not have access to smartphones.
To make up for this, the club will no longer allow fans to print their tickets at home starting on Sunday when Leeds hosts Manchester United at Elland Road. As a result, no one will be allowed entry into the stadium without a digital ticket.
Walker said, "Mobile ticketing offers incredible tools to clubs so they can track the life of a ticket.".
"You can follow a product's sale all the way up to the individual who checks it in at the gate. How many tickets an account transfers annually can be observed.
It gives you an amazing ability to spot touting activity, to spot the illegal resale of tickets, and to stop about 90% of the flow of tickets to the black market.
According to BBC Sport, the FA advises supporters to "only purchase tickets through official sources" and claims to have "strong and rigorous procedures in place" to stop ticket touting near Wembley Stadium.
The Premier League has compiled a list of unofficial ticket marketplacesexternal-link where coveted tickets have been known to be offered for sale, and it advises fans to use caution when doing so.
The sale of tickets months before a game is scheduled to take place, the lack of confirmation of seat assignments, and the availability of a large number of tickets for a prominent match are all signs that a ticket might be invalid.
"Ticket touting is a criminal offence, and those who are caught ripping off genuine fans through these means will face action," said Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chiefs' Council's lead for football policing.
"We support any initiatives put forth to stop ticket touting and will keep collaborating with clubs and leagues to crack down on these offenses.
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