Chelsea Supporters’ Trust has written to the Premier League to ask for an investigation into co-owner Todd Boehly’s involvement in ticket reselling website Vivid Seats.
The re-selling of football tickets online is a beast that is growing out of control as prices are listed in the thousands for seats that would normally cost, on average, £50.
If you look, for example, on Vivid Seats for Liverpool’s trip to Chelsea at the start of May you will find tickets priced from £657 to £6,333 – an eye-watering amount whether it is VIP or not.
What you may not know is that Chelsea co-owner Boehly has served as a director on the board of Vivid Seats since 2021, which is listed as an ‘unauthorised ticketing website’ by the Premier League.
Vivid is legally allowed overseas but is prohibited in the UK, though the BBC report that they were able “to verify the website allows UK-based users to buy tickets” despite pop-up warnings.
In an open letter to the league’s chief executive Richard Masters, the Chelsea fan group revealed it has “received a significant amount of correspondence from concerned members” over Boehly’s involvement.
A snippet of the letter reads: “As a director of Chelsea FC and part-owner, Mr Boehly’s connection with Vivid Seats is totally inappropriate and significantly undermines the efforts of Chelsea FC, the Premier League, and the Metropolitan Police to combat ticket touting.
“Mr Boehly has been contacted directly by the CST and has been offered multiple opportunities to both publicly and privately address supporters’ concerns.
Vivid Seats: Open letter & @DCMS Consultation
The CST has written an open letter to the #PremierLeague CEO in response to reports connecting Todd Boehly & Vivid Seats.
The CST has also submitted evidence on this issue to the DCMS consultation on the resale of live event tickets pic.twitter.com/kVX50g44ri
— Chelsea Supporters’ Trust???? (@ChelseaSTrust) March 26, 2025
“Neither Mr Boehly nor his representatives have, however, acted on these requests, and thousands of tickets remain for sale on the Vivid Seats website.”
It is an issue that needs to be taken more seriously by the Premier League and its respective clubs as fans are being exploited all too readily and it never feels like it is being addressed.
For Liverpool’s meeting with Crystal Palace on the final day of the season, tickets on Vivid Seats are already listed between a staggering £1,699 and £12,663 – significantly more than any official hospitality seat.
Boehly’s connection to the website undermines any attempts to enact change and that the Premier League knew of his investment before his role at Chelsea speaks volumes of how seriously they are tackling resale websites.
