Todd Boehly, Vivid Seats and Chelsea payment explained amid supporter anger

The controversial relationship Chelsea co-owner has come into the spotlight once again after a payment from the company was revealed in the club’s accounts.

Last week, , a period in which the club managed to post a £128.4million pre-tax profit for the financial year, despite an underlying loss of £70m for the period, largely due thanks to the , which was sold to a related company to ownership, BlueCo22 Midco Limited, at a valuation just shy of £200million.

That was the dominant topic of discussion when dissecting the results, but amid all the detail there was a payment from Vivid Seats, itemised in the associated party transactions, for a sum of £93,000.

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While such a figure in the context of the enormous numbers contained in the accounts might seem of little relevance or interest, with it being from Vivid Seats it has brought back front and centre an issue that arose for and the company last month.

At the heart of the matter is that Boehly, the second largest shareholder in Chelsea after Clearlake Capital, also holds a stake in Vivid Seats, a company that is listed as an 'unauthorised ticketing website' by the Premier League, allowing overseas fans to buy tickets unofficially for between £90 and £20,000.

The club accounts filed on Companies House provide no further detail about what the payment relates to, but Vivid Seats were the club's official United States pre-season tour partner in the summer of 2023, a period that is included in the 2023/24 accounting period in question.

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. It is understood that the payment was in relation to the partnership that was engaged for the summer tour last year, with Vivid Seats one of the biggest ticketing sites in North America.

Last month , imploring him to investigate the link between Boehly and a ticketing website that the Premier League has not authorised and that is selling tickets for huge sums.

The letter, also sent to football.london, read: “The CST has penned this letter as we have received a significant amount of correspondence from concerned CST members and supporters from the wider Chelsea FC fanbase on this issue that cannot be ignored.

“Since its inception, the CST has been in regular dialogue with Chelsea Football Club (CFC), the Premier League (PL), the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA), and other key stakeholders regarding the ongoing battle against ticket touting and the illegal sales of tickets on third party websites.

“We were therefore dismayed when, in early February, it was highlighted that Todd Boehly sits on the Board of Directors of Vivid Seats. It has also been reported that through his holding company, Mr Boehly owns approximately 41% of Vivid Seats.

“Vivid Seats currently lists tickets for every Premier League fixture for the remainder of the season and most tickets are being sold for above face value at significantly inflated rates. For example, a ticket for Liverpool’s final home fixture of the season is currently listed on Vivid Seats for almost £20,000.

“Most notably, Vivid Seats currently lists hundreds of Chelsea FC general admission tickets at significantly inflated prices. As these tickets are not sold by the Chelsea FC website, they are considered by CFC to be “illegal sales.” To further compound matters, Vivid Seats is also explicitly named on the Premier League website as ‘a known unauthorised ticket website’.

“Many CST members are clearly infuriated by this connection and have written to us to say that Mr Boehly’s association with Vivid Seats

“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.

“The CST firmly believes that it is now time for the Premier League to act and investigate.

“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.”

Vivid Seats is the third-largest ticket exchange and resale site in the US, with annual revenues north of $1.5billion.

Back in 2021 the company went public on the New York Stock Exchange some months after a merger with special purpose acquisition company, Horizon Acquisitions Corporation, a firm where Boehly serves as chairman and through which Boehly's own investment firm, Eldridge Industries, received some investment from US gambling firm Draft Kings.

At the time of the deal, Boehly said: “We are pleased to announce this investment from DraftKings, one of the country’s leading and most visible sports tech entertainment companies. Today’s announcement is a nod to Vivid Seats’ growing and powerful ticketing marketplace, and will aid the company with its overall mission to empower fans to ‘Experience It Live.”