Todd Boehly’s alleged involvement in a ticket resale website has led to the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust to demand an investigation into their club chairman.
The 51-year-old has been no stranger in angering the Blues faithful following BlueCo’s £4.25billion takeover in 2022.
While many fans have been left frustrated by the club’s direction and recruitment, the CST have now written to the Premier League’s chief executive Richard Masters, calling for action over Boehly.
The Trust claims the American is a director at Vivid Seats – a company that allows the resale of tickets to fans – including Chelsea‘s – for thousands of pounds above market value.
Incredibly, Vivid Seats is listed on the top-flight’s website as being an ‘unauthorised ticket website’, where they encourage fans to ‘exercise extreme caution’ if using it to buy tickets.
In an open letter to Masters, the CST were critical of Boehly, who owns a 13 per cent stake in Chelsea.
They said: “Many CST members are clearly infuriated by this connection and have written to us.
“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.
“Neither Mr Boehly nor his representatives have, however, acted on these requests, and thousands of tickets remain for sale on the Vivid Seats website.”
A spokesperson also stated that Boehly’s involvement is a ‘clear conflict of interest’ and is a blatant ‘breach of trust’.
The CST added in a statement: “Vivid Seats continues to list Premier League tickets for above face value at significantly inflated rates.
“Not only does this undermine the efforts of Chelsea FC, The Premier League, and The Metropolitan Police to combat ticket touting, but Vivid Seats contravenes the Chelsea FC ticketing policy, and is explicitly named by the Premier League as a known unauthorised ticket website.
“We believe that now is the time for the Premier League to act swiftly and ensure that a major shareowner of a Premier League club ceases facilitating the sale of tickets for significantly above face value.”
The Football Supporters’ Association supported the CST’s letter, where a spokesperson said: “It is clear the Premier League needs to take action.”
“Clubs, supporters’ groups, the police and the Premier League itself has worked hard in recent years to combat ticket touting – there is no excuse for a club owner to be involved in such activity.”
Chelsea declined to comment when contacted by talkSPORT.
The CST have also submitted evidence against Vivid Seats to the government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Vivid Seats isn’t legally allowed to be used by UK-bases users, but is allowed to be operated overseas.
Chelsea’s own website in 2024 insisted that the practice of ticket touting is ‘illegal’.
A statement read: “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.
“Supporters found to be selling their ticket for more than face value will be subject to a club investigation and sanctions.”
It was only last month that Boehly responded to Chelsea fans who want him gone, insisting discontent ‘is par for the course’ when being involved in a club.
And speaking earlier this month, Boehly provided an update over Chelsea’s stadium plans.
An expansion of Stamford Bridge has previously been mooted, but due to its location in west London, the club has ran into serious economic and logistical hurdles.
For Boehly, he expects Chelsea to move into a new ground in the future, but conceded it’s a ‘really complex’ situation.
