Arsenal shame Newcastle United owners – Transparency is the least NUFC members deserve | OneFootball

Newcastle United defeated Arsenal on the pitch at the weekend.

A great result for Eddie Howe, his players and of course, the fans.

An excellent convincing win for Newcastle United.

However, off the pitch, fair to say that Arsenal are shaming the Newcastle United owners when it comes to how they treat so many of their fans.

I am talking about the Newcastle United members.

To say the ballot system for NUFC home tickets is a ‘little’ frustrating, is understatement of the year.

Everybody understands that demand exceeds supply but the way the Newcastle United owners are behaving towards members is beyond disappointing.

The Newcastle United owners and senior staff refuse to say how many Newcastle United members there are.

They refuse to say how many tickets are made available to members each match, via the ballots and queuing system.

The club refuse to tell Newcastle United members how many apply for the tickets each home game.

They also refuse to tell Newcastle United members what the success rate has been, in terms of percentage of members who were successful in getting a ticket for any particular home match.

No system will be perfect and not everybody will be happy, due to demand exceeding supply.

However, Newcastle United have to be doing far far better.

At the moment, the likes of Arsenal are shaming the NUFC owners when it comes to transparency with their members.

Down below, you will see the Arsenal official end of season ticketing review for the 2023/24 season which was released in July this year, this tells fans/members all sorts of information about what exactly happened last season, in terms of ticket distribution and success rates etc.

The table below shows the percentage chance of success that has been enjoyed for each ballot across the games that have been balloted so far this season for Arsenal fans, plus how many fans were able to buy tickets for each of the matches via their ticket exchange.

For transparency and fairness, the Newcastle United owners owe the NUFC fans at the very least to do the same as Arsenal.

If they refuse to do so, then the natural assumption of most Newcastle United members (fans will) be that it is because they have something to hide, something they don’t want supporters, especially those paying for NUFC memberships, to see.

Arsenal update on ballots and buying tickets this 2024/25 season for their members – November 2024:

To ensure fairness and equal opportunity, tickets for home fixtures this season will be sold via a ballot system exclusively for Arsenal Members.

For each match, we provide our Members with a designated window to enter the ballot. You can choose to register individually or as a group, as long as all members in the group meet the necessary requirements. There is no rush to enter, you can enter at any stage during the registration window and your odds of success remain exactly the same.

To assist you further, we have created a comprehensive How-to-Buy guides that provides detailed instructions on navigating the ballot system. If you’re a Silver Member, click here for information about the Silver ballot. For details about the Red ballot, please click here and of course, for our disabled fans who require disability access, we have a dedicated Disability Access ballot.

Ticket Exchange

Once the ballot has been run, the Ticket Exchange service opens, which allows Season Ticket Holders and Members who are unable to attend the game to sell their tickets to other members. To ensure that tickets are being used by genuine Arsenal supporters and members, Ticket Exchange access will initially be limited to members who were unsuccessful in the ballot. The Exchange may open to other members ahead of the game; this will be communicated on a match-by-match basis via the relevant ticket information page.

Arsenal official end of season ticketing review for the 2023/24 season – 8 July 2024:

Firstly, we want to thank you all for your support throughout the 2023/24 season.

It was a record-breaking season and you pushed us all the way, whether that was at Emirates Stadium or supporting us around the world.

It was also another season of unprecedented demand for tickets which far outstripped supply. With the season over, we wanted to provide a ticketing update.

Ticketing ballot Our goal remains the same: to put tickets in the hands of our supporters, with a focus on our paying Silver and Red members.

At the start of the 2023/24 season, we introduced a ballot system to help us achieve this goal. This followed extensive discussions with our Arsenal Advisory Board, Fans’ Forum and Ticketing Working Group.

We believe this is the fairest way to allocate tickets to Silver and Red Members. It enables members to register in their own time, ahead of a clear deadline, addressing the problem of the previous system which required members to be online to join a queue at a set time.

Supporter feedback

Throughout the 2023/24 season, we made changes to how we allocate tickets, based on feedback from supporters.

Mid-way through the season, we limited Ticket Exchange to members who were unsuccessful in the ballot. This gave members priority and more opportunities to those who were regularly attempting to access tickets via the ballot.

We also removed the 10% fee for season ticket holders to use Ticket Exchange or Ticket Transfer, encouraging greater seat utilisation and allowing for more tickets to become available for members through these platforms.

We have implemented a functionality for members to be able to choose their top two price band preferences that they wish to purchase as part of a successful ballot application.

Touting

The ballot has also helped us take robust action against illegal ticket touting and bot activity, as the system identifies suspicious activity before tickets are allocated.

During the 2023/24 season, we banned 20,000 members and 54 season ticket holders for attempting to obtain tickets in unauthorised ways. This action is helping to ensure that tickets go to genuine supporters at their correct value.

Next season we will continue to increase our investment in anti-touting measures, including developing greater online protection, delivering more boots-on-the-ground operations and dedicating more internal resource to take action.

With demand for tickets so high, we’re also committed to ensuring every seat is used. We can confirm that 24 season tickets were cancelled last season due to lack of use. During the 2023/24 season, supporters had to use their season ticket (attend themselves or make their season ticket available on Ticket Exchange or Ticket Transfer) for 17 out of 22 matches. For the 2024/25 season, this will change to 20 out of 23.

The introduction of the ballot was a necessary and positive step, with the data showing improved ticket access for paying members.

The ballot will continue next season, and following consultation with the Arsenal Advisory Board, members who applied to 20 or more ballots and were not successful once will be invited to purchase a ticket from a select number of fixtures before Christmas. This involves around 300 members and ensures those who were unfortunate to miss out will be offered the opportunity to attend a match.

Our Managing Director, Rich Garlick, said: “Demand for tickets continues to grow, but we’re pleased to see that the data from the 2023/24 season supports our decision to introduce the ballot as the fairest and most equitable way to allocate tickets for our members.

“It’s encouraging to see that 20% more Red Members were able to access tickets as a result of the ballot, and only two members who applied for all 25 ballots were unable to secure tickets via the ballot or Ticket Exchange.

“As we move forward, we’ll continue to work with the Arsenal Advisory Board and Ticketing Working Group to keep supporter experience at the forefront of our efforts to make tickets accessible. We’ll also continue to review our data as we aim to strike the right balance and identify areas where we can make further improvements.”

“We’d like to thank the Arsenal Advisory Board, Fans’ Forum and Ticketing Working Group for their input and representation of Arsenal supporters on the important matter of ticketing.”

The Arsenal Advisory Board, said: “We welcome the opportunity to have reviewed ticketing with the Club at the end of the season and this subsequent publication of further information about ballot outcomes.

“At a time of unprecedented demand, this transparency allows for Arsenal supporters to have a better understanding of the ticket sale arrangements and to feedback their ideas for further improvement.

“In response to our ongoing concerns about ticket touting we welcome the Club’s commitment to invest even more in anti-touting measures next season, including dedicating resources online and on-the-ground. It is an important topic we wish to return to in future meetings.

“We will continue to represent our members on ticketing through the AAB and Ticketing Working Group, and welcome discussions about proposals for moving to potential greater flexibility for season tickets.”

Full ballot statistics

420,000 – tickets accessed by members via the ballot, Ticket Exchange or Ticket Transfer 174,000 – members who applied for at least one ballot 42,000 – members who only applied for one ballot 20,000 – members who were unsuccessful in the ballot but later acquired a ticket via Ticket Exchange or Ticket Transfer for the same fixture 93,000 – members obtained tickets via the ballot, Ticket Exchange or Ticket Transfer 73,000 – members who were successful in the ballot at least once 6 – members who applied to all 25 ballots and were not successful once 5.8 – average number of ballots each member applied to 2 – members who applied to all 25 ballots and were not successful or able to get a ticket via Ticket Exchange or Ticket Transfer 13,000 – more Red Members were able to obtain a ticket in the 2023/24 season compared to the 2022/23 season (an increase of 20%) x3 – Silver Members were on average three times more likely to obtain tickets via the ballot vs Red Members. There were an average 5,800 Silver Members at Emirates for each home game. 10,450 – total accessibility tickets made available to members via the ballot, Ticket Exchange or Ticket Transfer 9,000 – average number of tickets purchased via Ticket Exchange or transferred to members via Ticket Transfer for Premier League Fixtures. 4,200 – average number of tickets purchased via Ticket Exchange for Premier League fixtures