Manchester United may face probe into its season tickets
MANCHESTER United could face an anti-competition appeal over the way it sells season tickets, City A.M. has learned.
A top City law firm is looking into the way the Old Trafford club bundles European and cup games with its season tickets, forcing fans to shell out more if the team progresses.
A source close to the matter said: “The club is in a dominant position as far as these tickets go – it’s not like you can just go and support Manchester City if the prices go up.
“The way tickets are bundled – taking the dominant product and forcing people to buy something they might not want – is a potential abuse of that power.”
The Office of Fair Trading was asked to look at the issue last year, with the club relaxing the rules to exclude unpopular Carling Cup games but this did not go far enough for some fans.
It is the latest setback for the club, which was forced to place 4,000 season tickets on general sale after failing to shift them. United – which has endured a dogged fans’ campaign against its American owners – has frozen the price of its season tickets this year.