Chelsea received payment from Boehly-linked Vivid Seats
The controversial ticket reselling site linked to Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly, Vivid Seats, made a payment to the club in the 2023-24 accounting period.
A payment of £93,000 from Vivid Seats is listed under “transactions with related parties” in the club’s accounts published on Companies House over the weekend.
Last month the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust (CST) called on the Premier League to investigate Boehly’s connections to Vivid, where he has been a director since 2021.
Vivid is on the Premier League’s list of unauthorised ticket websites. The American website offers users outside the UK the opportunity to sell and buy tickets to sporting events and concerts, often at more than face value.
The club accounts provide no further detail about what the payment relates to, but Vivid was the club’s official United States pre-season tour partner in the summer of 2023.
Under the partnership, members of Vivid were given the opportunity to purchase premium VIP packages, which included perks such as access to exclusive open training sessions.
Chelsea have been contacted for comment.
Tickets listed on the Vivid Seats website for Chelsea’s final home Premier League match of the season on May 18 range from £439 for general admission to more than £3,000 for hospitality in the Harris Suite at Stamford Bridge.
Last month the CST wrote to Premier League chief executive Richard Masters saying it had “received a significant amount of correspondence from concerned members” as well as the wider Chelsea fanbase over the reports of Boehly’s connection with Vivid Seats.
A CST spokesperson added at the time: “Vivid Seats continues to list Premier League tickets for above face value at significantly inflated rates and our members have continued to indicate that Mr Boehly’s connection with Vivid Seats is a breach of trust and a clear conflict of interest.
“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.”
CST declined to comment further about the £93,000 payment.
The club’s accounts also confirmed the £200m valuation of the Chelsea women’s team to a subsidiary of the parent company was still being assessed by the Premier League as to whether it represented fair market value.
The women’s team was sold to a subsidiary of Chelsea’s parent company for £198.7m, a sum which contributed to a profit of £128.4m in the accounts for the year ending June 30, 2024.
The sale of fixed assets is not included in Uefa’s calculation of a club’s income. Sources close to the London club said Chelsea are working with Uefa on a “path to sustainability”, with the governing body taking into account mitigating circumstances.
Clubs who have breached Uefa financial regulations in the past have been subject to fines and settlement agreements.
PA