Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did the hospitality packages at the Emirates (Arsenal) and Anfield (Liverpool) during the same week a couple years ago It was a wonderful experience for our first exposure to the Premier League -- drinks and dinner before the game, a pep talk from a former player, great seats above the 50 yard line, more drinks at halftime, even more drinks and dessert after the game. Crazy expensive, however.

By contrast when we went to Madrid more recently we used Stubhub for tickets to Real Madrid (passcards) and Athletico Madrid (electronic tickets). Amazing seats both times and no issues with getting the tickets.

Yeah the entire "hospitality" operation is kind of a scam, but partially keeps tickets for the old school fans relatively cheap, so I respect it. They keep season tickets for long time holders very cheap to build up lifelong support.

Its no different than sporting event here. And frequently far cheaper than even bad teams here.

If you are a season ticket holder for a major US team like say the Eagles, they ratchet up the prices every year. I checked online and looks like the cheapest tickets are around $1200 for 9 games, or $133/game.

Man City season tickets (just as hard to get as Eagles tickets, with 10 year+ wait-list) Looks like the cheapest tickets there are around $800 for 19 games, so $42/game.

https://mancitynews.com/man-city-season-ticket-prices-waiting-list-membership/

We bought ours directly from Fulham.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did the hospitality packages at the Emirates (Arsenal) and Anfield (Liverpool) during the same week a couple years ago It was a wonderful experience for our first exposure to the Premier League -- drinks and dinner before the game, a pep talk from a former player, great seats above the 50 yard line, more drinks at halftime, even more drinks and dessert after the game. Crazy expensive, however.

By contrast when we went to Madrid more recently we used Stubhub for tickets to Real Madrid (passcards) and Athletico Madrid (electronic tickets). Amazing seats both times and no issues with getting the tickets.

Yeah the entire "hospitality" operation is kind of a scam, but partially keeps tickets for the old school fans relatively cheap, so I respect it. They keep season tickets for long time holders very cheap to build up lifelong support.

Its no different than sporting event here. And frequently far cheaper than even bad teams here.

There was just an article in the paper about the massive rise in scam brokers. So be very careful!!

Anonymous wrote:We did the hospitality packages at the Emirates (Arsenal) and Anfield (Liverpool) during the same week a couple years ago It was a wonderful experience for our first exposure to the Premier League -- drinks and dinner before the game, a pep talk from a former player, great seats above the 50 yard line, more drinks at halftime, even more drinks and dessert after the game. Crazy expensive, however.

By contrast when we went to Madrid more recently we used Stubhub for tickets to Real Madrid (passcards) and Athletico Madrid (electronic tickets). Amazing seats both times and no issues with getting the tickets.

Yeah the entire "hospitality" operation is kind of a scam, but partially keeps tickets for the old school fans relatively cheap, so I respect it. They keep season tickets for long time holders very cheap to build up lifelong support.

We did the hospitality packages at the Emirates (Arsenal) and Anfield (Liverpool) during the same week a couple years ago It was a wonderful experience for our first exposure to the Premier League -- drinks and dinner before the game, a pep talk from a former player, great seats above the 50 yard line, more drinks at halftime, even more drinks and dessert after the game. Crazy expensive, however.

By contrast when we went to Madrid more recently we used Stubhub for tickets to Real Madrid (passcards) and Athletico Madrid (electronic tickets). Amazing seats both times and no issues with getting the tickets.

We’ve used Groundhopper and Nickes. Both have been great.

If you are staying at a hotel - ask the concierge for help. We went to an Arsenal game over Christmas break and they helped connect us to buy tickets. Definitely worth it.

Anonymous wrote:What about third party vendors such as stub hub? Any legitimate sites like that?

They don't substantively exist in the UK- scalping is generally illegal and the teams work very hard to keep tickets off the secondary market. Part of it is for crowd control so they don't have groups of fans mixing.

The other challenge when traveling over there is that the final schedules aren't set until 6-8 weeks because of TV times. So if you are aiming for a very specific date/time, it may change if they decide to take a Saturday game and make it the Friday night game, or move it to Sunday (or sometimes even Monday).

What about third party vendors such as stub hub? Any legitimate sites like that?

You may not be able to get tickets to most London-based teams on their websites -- demand has gone up and they're usually sold out to members before anything is available to the general public.

I got tickets to see Arsenal a few years ago by joining a bunch of Facebook groups where people sell spare tickets. Wound up paying about 3x face value for a pair. If there's a specific team you definitely want to try to see, you could try joining as a member so you have access to single-game sales before the general public; for Arsenal, that's about $35 a year.

If you want to be sure you'll get tickets without having to mess around with random secondary markets, and especially if you're flexible on price, most clubs offer premium seating that doesn't sell out. But that could run more than $1,000 per ticket, which I wouldn't personally be interested in spending.

I'd look at the dates you'll be there and see which clubs are home, and then try their websites to see if there ARE tickets available to purchase. If so, you're all set. Teams like Brentford and Crystal Palace (or even Fulham) might be likelier to have some up for grabs than Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham, or Tottenham.

If not, you could probably get tickets to a Championship team (the level below the Premier League) -- which run about $25 or $30 each and which are usually plentiful.

Many years ago we used to just buy tickets on the team website from season ticket holders who weren't using them. I think it's more complicated now...some teams much more complicated than others (looking at you Liverpool, love you guys though). The best way to guarantee tickets at a match is to purchase Hospitality Tickets. They include a meal or drinks before the match, and are more expensive, but the easiest way for people outside the country to get tickets and not have to worry about scams. If you're going to London, you may want to look at the "lower tier" premiere league teams like Fulham or Palace or West Ham.

Also, I assume you know this...do NOT root for the away team in home sections (like don't cheer or wear jerseys or scarfs). It's not a big deal here in the US, but is a very big deal in England.

Have fun! I've been to Crystal Palace, West Ham, Fulham, and Liverpool...all fun and amazing experiences!

The team’s website. For example https://www.chelseafc.com/en/tickets/mens-tickets

Will be in London this spring. What is most straight forward way to get tickets?