Revealed: Chelsea's Todd Boehly co-owns 'unauthorised' website re-selling Premier League tickets for £20k

Boehly is an investor and director of Vivid Seats, an "unauthorised" US-based website that resells Premier League tickets to foreign tourists, according to the Daily Telegraph. The website allows foreign-based users to buy tickets, often for tens of thousands of pounds for matches and other events, and also charges 10 per cent commission and a service fee. Vivid Seats is on the Premier League’s list of “unauthorised ticketing websites” and does not allow British fans to buy or sell tickets as such practice is illegal in the UK.

Boehly has been co-owner at Chelsea since arriving in 2022 and has a personal wealth speculated at around £6.4 billion. Yet his involvement with Vivid Seats, which sees the Chelsea owner profiting from match-going fans, is unlikely to sit well with supporters. Tickets available on Vivid Seats for Premier League leaders Liverpool's final home game of the current season, against Crystal Palace at Anfield on May 25, start from £1,622 and go up to nearly £20,000.

Chelsea have previously condemned the practice of selling tickets for profit. A statement in 2024 read: "Supporters found to be selling their ticket for more than face value will be subject to a club investigation and sanctions, including the removal of season tickets, memberships and access to the away match ticket scheme. This unfortunately occurs more often than you would expect, and the club has been forced to ban many members and season ticket holders. In some cases, the matter will be reported to the police for criminal prosecution. The only place to purchase general admission tickets is via official Chelsea FC channels, including the club website and ticket exchange. Ticket holders can only transfer a ticket to a friend or family member for no more than face value.”

The company told the Telegraph: "As a global business, we are always respectful and cognisant of local regulatory policies and procedures that are in place in any market to ensure we are compliant. As such, our policy restricts the sale of EPL tickets from UK sellers. We can confirm that we do not have any UK sellers listing EPL inventory on our marketplace. Additionally, Vivid Seats does not and has never directly marketed or advertised Premier League tickets to UK customers. Vivid Seats and Chelsea have a longstanding and respectful partnership, which was publicly announced in 2023, where we partnered with Chelsea on their first-ever Premier League pre-season tournament in the USA. Regarding pricing, Vivid Seats does not set the base price for tickets sold on its marketplace or receive any revenue from that base price; only the seller sets and receives the base ticket price.”

Chelsea's next match is in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday against Brighton at the Amex Stadium. The teams then meet again six days later on the South Coast in a Premier League fixture.