Liverpool Cracks Down on Ticket Touting with 145,000 Accounts Closed and Record Bans
Liverpool Football Club has intensified its fight against ticket touting, shutting down 145,000 ticket accounts over the past two years and issuing a record 1,114 lifetime bans last season, BBC Sport can reveal. The club’s latest measures follow a surge in sophisticated attempts to manipulate its ticketing system, highlighting the ongoing challenge Premier League clubs face in protecting fans from the illegal resale market.
Mass Account Closures and Lifetime Bans
The Premier League champions reported that in the last 12 months, 500 people were denied entry to Anfield for attempting to gain access using “burner phones” – devices used by touts to evade tracking and bypass account restrictions.
These actions come after a BBC Sport investigation revealed the industrial-scale black market in Premier League tickets. Reselling tickets is illegal under UK law, yet many websites operate abroad, exploiting loopholes to sell tickets at inflated prices to unsuspecting supporters.
Liverpool’s crackdown has not only focused on individual accounts but also targeted social media platforms. The club closed 162 groups with a combined membership exceeding one million users, all involved in selling fake tickets or reselling genuine ones at extortionate prices.
The 1,114 lifetime bans represent a sharp increase from 75 imposed during the 2023-24 season, signaling the club’s commitment to tackling the problem. During that earlier season, Liverpool also closed 100,000 fake accounts, showing that while progress has been made, persistent efforts are needed to keep pace with evolving tactics.
Advanced Measures to Combat Touts
Liverpool has implemented a range of new preventative measures, including multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, and advanced fraud analysis tools, all aimed at detecting and blocking suspicious activity before tickets reach the black market.
The club operates a formal sanctions process where senior officials, alongside an independent supporter association member, review cases and determine appropriate action. Most bans and suspensions were handed down for unauthorised selling of season tickets, memberships, or hospitality tickets.
Khloe Stewart, a spokesperson for Liverpool, stated:
“Our priority is ensuring genuine supporters have fair access to tickets. Lifetime bans and account closures are necessary to protect our fans and maintain the integrity of our ticketing system.”
Wider Impact on Premier League Clubs
Liverpool is not alone in taking a hard line against ticket touts. Arsenal have cancelled almost 74,000 accounts attempting to acquire tickets unlawfully and banned over 7,000 memberships this season. Chelsea reported blocking more than 350,000 attempted purchases made using automated bots.
Despite these efforts, critics argue that some Premier League clubs could do more. Tom Greatrex, head of the Football Supporters Association, told BBC Sport:
“Long-term supporters are finding it almost impossible to get tickets because of the way they are made available through secondary agencies. This is becoming endemic across the game.”
The Premier League is taking steps to make ticket touting more difficult, including introducing encrypted barcodes for digital ticketing, designed to prevent fraud and limit the resale of tickets via unauthorised channels.
Fan Experience and Match-Day Enforcement
On match days, Liverpool conducts targeted stops at turnstiles, denying entry to accounts showing suspicious activity. During last season, just under 400 match-day interventions prevented unauthorised access to games, protecting legitimate ticket holders from being displaced by touts.
These measures are particularly important given Liverpool’s large supporter base, which includes more than 30,000 season ticket holders. Ensuring these fans can reliably attend matches is a core focus for the club, balancing security with the fan experience.
Legal Landscape and Enforcement Challenges
While reselling tickets for profit is illegal in England and Wales, enforcement remains challenging. Last season, the Home Office recorded only 12 arrests for ticket touting across the top six tiers of English football.
In a statement, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said:
“The unauthorised resale of football match tickets in England and Wales is illegal. Legislation is in place to minimise the risk of disorder, with football clubs responsible for implementing their own strategies to prevent ticket sales to unauthorised resellers. While the law applies only to domestic resales, it covers any element of an unauthorised sales chain that takes place within England and Wales.”
Despite legal backing, clubs face a continuous battle. Many black-market operations are based overseas, making enforcement complicated and leaving fans vulnerable to scams.
The Role of Technology in Preventing Touting
Liverpool’s efforts show that technology is key to combating ticket fraud. Automated bots, fake identities, and burner devices are increasingly used to exploit gaps in ticketing systems. By introducing multi-layer authentication and advanced monitoring, the club aims to outpace these tactics and ensure genuine supporters have priority access.
The BBC investigation revealed that ticket touts frequently use software to purchase large blocks of tickets, leaving loyal fans either paying inflated secondary market prices or missing out entirely. This practice undermines fan segregation, stadium safety, and the overall match-day experience.
Conclusion
Liverpool’s crackdown on ticket touting – closing 145,000 accounts, banning over 1,100 individuals for life, and shutting down 162 social media groups – highlights the club’s commitment to protecting its supporters. Yet the fight against black-market reselling is ongoing, with sophisticated methods constantly evolving.
While legal frameworks provide some tools to tackle unauthorised ticket sales, clubs and fans must remain vigilant. Measures such as encrypted digital ticketing, strict account monitoring, and targeted match-day enforcement are essential to preserving fair access to Premier League games.
Liverpool’s approach sets a benchmark for other clubs, showing that a combination of technology, legal enforcement, and proactive club policies is necessary to protect fans and maintain the integrity of football ticketing in the modern era.