Europa League ticket rules explained as Sunderland eye multi-million Stadium of Light cash boost
Sunderland must follow UEFA ticket rules next season, including away allocation and pricing limits...
Sunderland’s return to the Europa League will bring packed nights at the Stadium of Light, major excitement across the city and a fresh set of ticketing rules for the club to follow.
None of the regulations are expected to cause Sunderland any major issue, but they do explain how the club must handle away allocations, VIP tickets, hospitality, UEFA partner tickets and ticket pricing next season. They also give an early indication of the kind of money Sunderland could generate from ticket sales alone across their four guaranteed Europa League home games.
How many tickets must Sunderland give away fans?
UEFA rules state that home clubs must make at least 5 per cent of their UEFA spectator capacity available to visiting supporters. Using a rough figure of 48,000 supporters at the Stadium of Light, that would mean around 2,400 tickets for away fans.
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The price of those tickets cannot be higher than the price paid by home supporters for adult tickets in a comparable area of the stadium. Crucially, UEFA also states that visiting supporter tickets cannot cost more than €35. Using a rough conversion, €35 is around £30.
That means Sunderland will have to ensure visiting supporters are given a proper allocation, but the away price will be capped.
Can unsold away tickets be returned?
Yes. Visiting clubs can return unused tickets to Sunderland without payment up to seven days before the match. After that deadline, the visiting club has to pay for the full allocation, regardless of whether every ticket has been sold.
Sunderland would also be allowed to reallocate tickets that are returned or not requested by the away club, provided all safety and segregation rules are respected and those tickets are not sold to visiting supporters.
What about VIP and hospitality tickets?
UEFA also sets rules around premium tickets. Visiting clubs are entitled to 200 top-category tickets for premium supporters, sponsors and other guests, although they do not have to take the full allocation. Of those, 50 must be provided free of charge.
UEFA representatives and at least 20 representatives of the visiting club and its association must also receive complimentary VIP seats and hospitality in the VIP area. For Europa League league phase matches, UEFA and its partners must receive 90 complimentary VIP tickets with hospitality at no extra charge.
UEFA and its partners must also be given the chance to buy, at face value, at least 75 top-category retail tickets and 85 tickets in the next highest category for league phase matches. Again, none of this is unusual. It is standard European competition procedure.
Can Sunderland use tickets for promotions?
Tickets cannot be used for commercial purposes such as promotions, advertising, competitions, sweepstakes, hospitality packages or travel packages without UEFA’s written approval.
UEFA must also approve all official tickets before production, while printed material connected to the competition has to follow UEFA’s ticketing policy.
Supporters attending games also have to accept standard UEFA media and broadcast conditions, including the possibility that their image, voice or likeness may be used in match coverage.
Do Sunderland keep ticket revenue?
Yes - UEFA’s competition rules state that, for matches up to and including the semi-finals, each club keeps its receipts from the sale of match tickets and bears its own expenses.
In other words, Sunderland should retain the ticket income generated from their Europa League home matches, while also carrying the costs of staging those games. The visiting club is responsible for its own travel, board and lodging unless the clubs agree otherwise.
The final works differently. UEFA owns all rights relating to tickets for the final and decides allocations and pricing alongside the host association. But that is not relevant to Sunderland’s four guaranteed home league phase matches.
How much could Sunderland make from ticket sales?
This is only fag-packet maths, because pricing, concessions, hospitality, segregation, complimentary tickets and UEFA requirements will all change the final number.
But if we work from roughly 48,000 supporters per game across four home league phase matches, that gives Sunderland around 192,000 total tickets. If away fans receive 5% - around 2,400 tickets per match - and those are capped at roughly £30, that would bring in about £72,000 per home game from away tickets, or around £288,000 across four matches. That would leave roughly 45,600 home tickets per game.
- At an average home ticket price of £25, Sunderland would gross around £4.85million across four home games.
- At £30, that rises to around £5.76million.
- At £35, it becomes around £6.67million.
- At £40, the figure is around £7.58million.
- At £45, Sunderland could be looking at around £8.5million.
- At £50, it would be around £9.4million.
Those are not profit figures, and they do not include hospitality, commercial revenue, merchandise, food and drink, or the wider economic impact around the city. They are simply rough gross ticket-sale estimates based on a near-full Stadium of Light over four Europa League home games.
What does it mean for Sunderland?
The biggest point is that Sunderland should have no major issue complying with UEFA’s ticketing requirements. The away allocation, pricing cap, VIP obligations and UEFA partner tickets are all part of operating in European competition.
For supporters, the more interesting question will be how Sunderland price the home games and whether the club offers a package for all four league phase fixtures. What is already clear is that European football will be worth significant money to the club and the city.