Todd Boehly must apologise for latest snafu or risk losing even more support | OneFootball

The Telegraph’s exclusive investigation into Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly’s involvement with a ticket resale site is comprehensive and damaging, and Boehly must now address those claims.

The piece by Ben Rumsby says that Boehly is an investor and director in Vivid Seats, a ticket retail and resale site based in the US. They charge huge mark-ups and fees, and do not allow UK based fans to buy or sell. A practice which the piece says is illegal.

Beyond the legality, it’s also a terrible look for an owner to come in and start finding new avenues to make money from the fans of the club he’s supposed to be a custodian of. The hypocrisy is clear – Vivid Seats are on a list of “unauthorised ticketing websites” named by the Premier League themselves, and Chelsea’s own website makes their stance very clear, and very embarrassing for Boehly:

““Chelsea FC is committed to tackling ticket touting, for both home and away matches. We identify individuals who fraudulently harvest tickets/memberships to sell at vastly inflated prices, investigate both online and offline illegal ticket sales, and use a range of tactics and enforcement measures that help to combat ticket touting.”

Chelsea owner involved in another embarrassing snafu

Todd Boehly looking unhappy.

Ticket touting at Chelsea has been a problem that precedes Boehly’s involvement, but it’s only getting worse, and the fact that he’s actively profiting from it is totally unacceptable and embarrassing, and should lead to a full public apology at the very least, if he wants to retain any good-will from fans who have largely lost patience and lost faith with this ownership anyway, thanks to dreadful gaffes like this.

All of their worst fears about being owned by American venture capital sharks have come true, and probably faster and more deeply than anyone could have anticipated.