A technical loophole helped some TSV 1860 Munich fans get refunds for season tickets they had paid for twice. Many others, though, were set to miss out until an anonymous benefactor stepped in. Refunds for now worthless season tickets for the 2026/27 campaign went through in many cases for payments made by credit card, debit card or PayPal, but supporters who had paid by traditional bank transfer faced a financial loss after the third-division money from investor Hasan Ismaik was withheld.
That is where the unnamed entrepreneur's initiative came in after he made contact through the fan portal sechzger.de. The campaign aimed to support those fans who could no longer afford to buy tickets again for the Regionalliga after the enforced سقوط.
Once the framework conditions and the source of the funds had been clarified, the appeal launched in mid-July. By the deadline on Monday afternoon last week, 90 requests for support had arrived by email. The platform's operators passed them on to the donor without checking them.
IMAGOBenefactor pays for 107 season tickets for 1860 fans
He then handled the review and the complex processing himself, putting in considerable time as well as the money. To rule out opportunists looking only for financial gain, the donor filtered out ineligible applications after his own review.
A law firm brought in for the purpose then handled the financial side in a legally secure manner. In the end, 71 Lion families benefited from the aid campaign, with 107 season tickets worth a total of 34,243 euros covered. During the sold-out home opener against FC Augsburg II on Friday evening, watched by 15,000 spectators, the campaign was explicitly mentioned in a half-time stadium announcement and drew plenty of applause.
Most of the season tickets eligible for reimbursement were in the Westkurve standing section. A particularly high proportion also came from applicants with severe disabilities. Although this group pay reduced rates in the so-called Stehhalle, the doubling of annual ticket costs as a result of the licence withdrawal hit them particularly hard.