Albion blocks hundreds of tickets in tout clampdown

Ahead of the game between Brighton and Spurs £125,000 in illegally sold tickets were discovered

A clampdown on ticket touting by Brighton & Hove Albion has exposed an operation that tried to resell £125,000 worth of tickets in a single game, the football club has said.

It happened before the 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur at the Amex Stadium on 20 September, when 285 on the day tickets and 12 season tickets were identified as having been resold.

One fan travelled from South Korea for the Tottenham game, only to be refused entry when his ticket turned out to have been bought for £900 from an unauthorised website.

The club said it was using artificial intelligence (AI) and specialist software to flag suspect tickets, with the holders sent to the ticket office to be checked.

It said more than 350 tickets were found to have been fraudently sold at its last home match, a 2-1 win over Newcastle, with five season tickets cancelled for that fixture.

Head of supporter services Jenny Gower said: "We have recruited specialist personnel who are now identifying those suspect transactions and block tickets so the ticket holders are sent to the ticket office on matchdays.

"While some ticket holders prove to be legitimate purchasers and we apologise to those inconvenienced and unblock, the vast majority are tickets sold illegally and often for significantly higher prices.

"The message is getting through to the touts and illegal resellers; Brighton isn't the place to try to do this type of business.

"Only buy directly via Brighton & Hove Albion - we do not authorise any third-party ticket sellers."

Suspect tickets flagged by AI are sent to the ticket office for checking

Brighton operates a ticket exchange service, with season ticket holders unable to make matches able to sell them to other fans through the club.

It said this has led to legitimate resales of £1m since the start of the season in August, and £4m since the scheme was launched in 2022.

Ms Gower said: "This way everyone benefits.

"Season ticket holders get cash back if their ticket sells; supporters get more availability across the Amex, the team gets more support and the club can resell the ticket at the matchday price."

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