Pete Donald

🎟️ PSV Eindhoven will release additional Mystery Season Club Cards for the second half of the 2025/26 Eredivisie season. The scheme lets fans attend every home league match at Philips Stadium without a fixed seat, with availability expanded after monitoring resale activity in the first half of the campaign. Cards went on sale last week at an adjusted price, as PSV looks to maximise stadium occupancy while sitting top of the table.

⚖️ Five men have been jailed for a combined 12.5 years in the UK for a large-scale ticket fraud scheme centred on Liverpool FC matches. The group dishonestly obtained tickets via multiple memberships and false details, then resold them at inflated prices on secondary platforms. The operation later expanded to other Premier League clubs and an international resale website. The fraud was uncovered in 2018 after an LFC system upgrade flagged irregularities. Both Merseyside Police and the club reiterated a zero-tolerance approach and urged fans to buy only through official channels.

🎟️ FIFA says demand for the 2026 World Cup remains strong despite backlash over pricing, claiming 5m ticket requests in 24 hours after the Random Selection Draw opened. Fans from 200+ countries have applied, with host nations leading demand. Top requested group-stage games include Colombia v Portugal, Brazil v Morocco, Mexico v Korea Republic, Ecuador v Germany and Scotland v Brazil. However, supporter group Football Supporters Europe has criticised FIFA for abandoning 2018 bid promises and introducing variable pricing for group matches. The draw phase remains open until Jan 13.

💸 Fans eyeing the 2026 FIFA World Cup final face eye-watering prices. The cheapest ticket for the final at MetLife Stadium is reportedly £3,119, with other categories at £4,162 and £6,315. Following a team from opener to final could cost $6,900+ — nearly 5x more than 2022. Supporter group Football Supporters Europe has condemned the pricing, accusing FIFA of abandoning promises made in the 2018 bid and criticising variable pricing for group-stage matches based on “perceived attractiveness.” Phase 3 ticket sales run until Jan 13, with FIFA saying nearly 2m tickets have already been sold for the tournament (June 11–July 19) across the US, Canada & Mexico.

🏔️ With less than two months to go, almost half of the 1.5m tickets for the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics remain unsold — around 850,000 have been purchased so far. Sales abroad are on track, but domestic demand in Italy is lagging. CEO Andrea Varnier says this is “normal,” expecting interest to rise as the torch relay gets underway and more tickets are released. Recent promos and new releases (incl. the Opening Ceremony & men’s ice hockey final) have sold quickly. The Games run Feb 6–22, followed by the Paralympics in March.

🏟️ TicketManager has been selected as the preferred ticket & guest management platform for Super Bowl LX and multiple 2026 FIFA World Cup matches hosted in the Bay Area. The Bay Area Host Committee will use TicketManager to streamline VIP invitations, credentialing, registration & onsite guest management for events at Levi’s Stadium, which will host six World Cup games plus the Super Bowl. The goal: a seamless, world-class experience for every VIP guest.

🎟️ FC Barcelona is working to avoid a repeat of Saturday’s ticket chaos at Camp Nou after 7,500 fans struggled to access digital tickets vs Alavés, with around 300 unable to enter. VP Elena Font apologised, citing slowdowns in the new access system at the partially renovated stadium. Fans were sent PDFs, but delays persisted. Barça says improvements were underway ahead of the clash with Atlético Madrid.

I think if they aren't 4-0 down and its scored by a bigger name we would be talking about this as a goal of the season contender - that touch in a tight space is outrageous, hope he gets the credit he deserves.

Cannot wait to visit....

Seen mixed reviews on the stadium design but I appreciate the ambition to do something different and unconventional, contemporary with a call to the past. Might not be everyones taste but infinitely better than a bunch of stadiums indistinguishable from one another.

💼 Eventbrite will be acquired by tech group Bending Spoons in an all-cash ~$500m deal, taking the ticketing platform private. Shareholders will receive $4.50 per share, with closing expected in H1 2026. Bending Spoons plans to invest in Eventbrite’s next phase — including AI event tools, improved discovery, dedicated messaging & a secondary resale system. The acquisition follows its recent purchases of Vimeo and AOL.

🎵 A new UK Music survey shows the impact of Brexit on UK artists touring the EU is worsening. 32% of respondents were affected in 2024 (up from 28%), and 95% of those saw earnings fall. Live performance claims for EU events under 5,000 capacity are down 27% since 2019, hitting emerging and lower-earning artists hardest. Rising costs, red tape, lost EU bookings, and slowed sector job growth are pushing UK acts — and supporting businesses — to open EU subsidiaries, shifting economic value abroad. Combined with high US visa costs, UK artists face a growing competitive disadvantage.

⚖️ A major legal battle is unfolding between the FTC and Maryland-based ticket broker KIG. The FTC alleges KIG bypassed Ticketmaster limits by using thousands of accounts, rotating IPs, virtual cards & SIM boxes to buy hundreds of thousands of tickets for resale at higher prices. KIG denies wrongdoing, arguing the BOTS Act targets bot software — not human-run multi-account purchasing — and has filed a motion to dismiss. Hours later, the FTC moved to dismiss KIG’s earlier preemptive lawsuit. The dispute comes as the FTC also sues Live Nation/Ticketmaster over alleged coordination with brokers, prompting planned changes to Ticketmaster’s resale platform.

🚨 Girona FC has identified fraudulent ticket resale for Sunday’s match vs Real Madrid at Estadi Montilivi. The club will cancel affected tickets, block any irregularly used memberships, and apply sanctions — including up to 2-year suspensions for those involved. Girona may also pass information to the Mossos d’Esquadra for further action. Fans are urged to buy only through official channels to ensure safety and transparency.

📊 UEFA’s move from FFP to the Financial Sustainability Regulations (FSR) is showing clear impact. Across 24 top European clubs, aggregate results have swung from a €296m loss (22/23) to a €100m profit (24/25) — a near €400m turnaround. Big drivers include major improvements at Juventus, PSG, and Inter’s first profit of the 21st century. Revenues are rising too: operating income is up 21% (€298m → €362m), boosted by commercial growth, new competitions, matchday earnings, and infrastructure upgrades (e.g., Real Madrid’s 43% jump). Clubs like Bologna saw huge gains from European qualification (+141%). Including player trading, total revenues rose 23%, while the new squad cost ratio is already encouraging spending discipline. Overall: profitability is improving, financial stability is strengthening, and the FSR framework appears to be reshaping club behaviour toward sustainable models.

🎟️ Nearly 2 million tickets have already been sold for the 2026 FIFA World Cup ahead of Phase 3 sales opening on Dec 11. Fans from the US, Mexico, and Canada lead demand, with strong interest from England, Germany, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Argentina & France. Phase 3 includes a Random Selection Draw for exact fixtures — timing of entry doesn’t affect chances. The tournament runs June 11–July 19, 2026 across 16 cities in North America.

📉 StubHub faces a class-action lawsuit alleging it withheld info about cash-flow issues ahead of its September IPO. Investor Daniel Salabaj filed the complaint after Q3 results showed –$4.6m free cash flow (down from +$10.6m YoY) and a 69% drop in cash from operations. After the release, shares slid 20.9% to $14.87 — and have since fallen to $10.31, down 56% from the $23.50 IPO price.

🎟️ Inter are selling tickets for €5 this Black Friday - can't do much better than that...