The demand for tickets has gone up considerably since new owners and renewed hope arrived in October 2021.
However, the organisation, fairness and clarity around tickets has been a big source of frustration for many fans, as Newcastle United’s Supporters Trust (NUST) have expressed in an open letter to the club released last night.
NUST have called for greater transparency in light of ‘ongoing ticketing issues’, requesting more information after the situation has contributed to ‘growing frustration, mistrust and division’ within the fanbase.
Read their open letter in full below.
Urgent Call for Transparency on Ticketing – A Request on Behalf of Supporters
Dear Newcastle United,
We are once again calling on the club to provide full and unambiguous transparency around ticketing.
This issue has been raised by the Newcastle United Supporters Trust (NUST) on multiple occasions, and the failure to provide clarity is contributing to growing frustration, mistrust, and division within the fanbase.
The information we are requesting is straightforward, reasonable, and in the public interest. There is no credible reason why it cannot be shared. In fact, doing so would demonstrate the club’s respect for its supporters and commitment to fair process.
In his introductory remarks, new CEO David Hopkinson stated:
“The fans are the lifeblood, the body of this club and what it means. They’re the magic, and we need to understand what they want, and change in a way that’s consistent with delivering on their ambitions.”
If fans are truly the lifeblood of the club, then transparency must follow. That includes openness about how tickets are allocated, who receives them, and how many people are competing for them. Anything less undermines trust.
We therefore request the following information:
Season Ticket Holders/Members
- Total number of season ticket holders (current season)
- Total number of Mags members (current season)
2. Ticket Allocations (Home & Away)
- Tickets available to members via ballot or public sale (excluding corporate allocations)
- Total away ticket allocation and the proportion reserved for season ticket holders
- Number of tickets allocated via the away ballot
- Number of away tickets ‘ring-fenced’ (e.g. withheld for internal or undisclosed reasons)
3. Ballot Outcomes (Last Season)
- Average ballot success rate per home match
- Average chance of ballot success for an individual Mags member
For over two years, the club has maintained that this information is ‘commercially sensitive’. We strongly challenge that position. Numerous other Premier League clubs – including Liverpool FC – already publish this type of information openly, without compromising any commercial interests.
Indeed, Liverpool have set a clear benchmark by publishing their detailed Matchday Ticketing Data for the 2024/25 season.
It is vital that supporters – particularly paying members – understand how tickets are allocated, so they can assess whether the process is fair and transparent. Without this information, members cannot reasonably judge the value of their membership, nor can they make informed decisions about renewing membership, entering ballots or setting aside time for Mags member sales.
We fully acknowledge that no system will satisfy every supporter, especially given the limited number of tickets available relative to demand. But without transparency, no system can be trusted to be fair.
We call on Newcastle United to publish this data immediately and commit to an open approach going forward. The club’s failure to do so only widens the divide between decision-makers and the loyal fans who follow Newcastle home and away.
Transparency builds trust. The time for clarity is now.
Yours faithfully,
Newcastle United Supporters Trust
Wow, are those nutters still around?
Open letters are just attention seeking devices.
Why aren’t they speaking directly to the club?
Remember the old days when they tried to raise money to buy the club?
It was such a disaster they changed it to buying 1 % instead?
Whatever happened to all that cash they raised?
JFA127(Quote)
Mags Plus Member for two years. Never been successful in a ballot yet.
Ian J(Quote)
Based on 31k season tickets, 5k away tickets being withheld and ~1k for special interests, another 1k for general sale leaving about 14k available.
These will be spread throughout the stadium. Only a certain % of available seats will have 2 or more empty seats next to one another.
We seem to have 50-100k entering a given ballot depending on the game.
There will only be a limited number of seats in the selectable areas of the stadium.
At a guess, I’d imagine that entering the ballot for multiple tickets drops your chances significantly given the availability.
You probably have around a 1 in 5 chance of a ticket if entering for 1 and probably a lot less if entering for multiple tickets. The more requested, the lower the chance. Probably halfing or more by adding 1 ticket. That would mean being unsuccessful for an entire season isn’t implausible especially if entering for multiples.
Realistically, we need a much larger stadium for a balloting system to work well for everyone.
Hazz(Quote)