With four home games left to play this season, we wanted to update supporters on the situation with StubHub and the Club's future plans for the ticket exchange. It seems likely that THFC will be discussing next year's arrangements now, or in the very near future, so we also wanted to take the opportunity to remind the Club publicly of our position.
THST opposed the deal with StubHub. We believe a ticket exchange should be a service, not an additional income stream imposed on fans who already make the greatest financial contribution to the Club. We also don't believe any ticket exchange service should operate in a way that pushes up the price of tickets that are already some of the most expensive in the country. We acknowledge the price cap imposed on the current platform after lobbying from THST, and the decision to end resale on the site. But we believe the price cap still allows prices to be pushed up too high.
Reaction from fans has, inevitably, been mixed and we acknowledge that some fans are using the current system. But we believe most fans, like the 3,500 who signed the Stop StubHub petition and the many who responded backing the call on eight of the most widely-read THFC websites, would like the Club to replace the current system with an ethical exchange scheme that operates simply as a service.
We'd also draw attention to the bad PR such an association with so-called secondary ticketing agencies brings the Club. Recent debates in the Commons and the Lords have brought the activities and ethics of these agencies to wider attention, and the Lords recently recognised, in measures now accepted by the Government, that more measures to regulate their activities were needed. We also understand from informal soundings within the wider world of football that worries about reputational damage associated with dealing with these agencies extend quite a long way up the structure.
We hope the Club will bear these points in mind as it makes its decision.
THST Board
6 March 2015
Reaction from fans has, inevitably, been mixed and we acknowledge that some fans are using the current system. But we believe most fans, like the 3,500 who signed the Stop StubHub petition and the many who responded backing the call on eight of the most widely-read THFC websites, would like the Club to replace the current system with an ethical exchange scheme that operates simply as a service.
We'd also draw attention to the bad PR such an association with so-called secondary ticketing agencies brings the Club. Recent debates in the Commons and the Lords have brought the activities and ethics of these agencies to wider attention, and the Lords recently recognised, in measures now accepted by the Government, that more measures to regulate their activities were needed. We also understand from informal soundings within the wider world of football that worries about reputational damage associated with dealing with these agencies extend quite a long way up the structure.
We hope the Club will bear these points in mind as it makes its decision.
THST Board
6 March 2015
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