Leicester City and the Digital Ticket Debate

As the deadline for season ticket renewals has now passed, the Foxes Trust is setting out what we want the club to do regarding its continued drive towards digital tickets. 

We also set out below the engagement we’ve already had with the club and our one-to-one assistance given to fans to help them navigate their way to successfully renewing a season ticket card.

What we now want the club to do

1. Stop the roll out of digital tickets if the club is relegated (make it digital by decision rather than digital by default).
2. Make the number of ticket transfers and re-sales in a digital ticketing policy unlimited.
3. Provide complete transparency on the full list of possible exemptions.

Recent Trust Engagement with LCFC

During March we were directly engaging with the club over two main concerns regarding digital tickets.

1) We believed that, in the event of relegation to The Championship, a significant percentage of Leicester City fans would want to maintain a physical season ticket card and not be forced into digital ticketing.

2) If we did avoid relegation, with Premier League rules seeking up to 70% of tickets being issued digitally in 2025/26, as the Premier League move towards a total digital format by the 2026/27 season, we felt it important that the number of ticket transfers and re-sales permitted should be increased beyond the five already permitted.

Leicester City responded quickly, and our letter clearly had impact, with their agreement to increase the number of permitted transfers to 10 (double what it was previously) and shortly afterwards they went public with this change. 

The Trust felt this was a step in the right direction on this particular issue – even though we would like to see this increased further still (17 out of 20 Premier League clubs currently have no limit).

But the Club also told us that they were unprepared to move on reducing the pace of introduction of digital tickets because they had been discussed via the Fan Engagement Framework and “received extensive support, with little or no objection”. This was surprising to hear and did not align with the feedback we had been receiving from our members and the wider fan base.

In view of this the Trust therefore launched its own a digital ticketing survey to understand fan sentiment towards digital ticketing. Our survey found as follows:

– Over 85% of fans surveyed disagree with the decision LCFC intends to make to adopt Premier League rules for digital ticketing even if the Club is playing in The Championship next season.

– Almost 50% of fans surveyed either don’t trust the technology for digital tickets or do not possess a smart phone to be able to use them.

– Almost 50% of fans surveyed have experienced difficulties using digital tickets.

All of this points to the Club’s drive to sell tickets on a digital by default basis being widely unpopular and unwelcomed by many Leicester City supporters.

Who can apply for a Digital Ticket Exemption?

Even if the club does not relent from its push for digital tickets, at the very least they could make it easier for fans to seek exemption from them. 

The Trust has found itself needing to help fans on a one-to-one basis engage with Club about digital exemptions. 

It is currently unclear what is classified as a valid reason for an exemption, and we would like to see the Club publicise with full transparency the full list of possible exemptions and make it easier for eligible fans to apply for them.

As things stand, the only information that has been shared by the Club is as follows:

– Seniors (aged 65 and over)

– Supporters aged under 16

– Supporters who have registered a disability with the Club

The deadline for registering an exemption for a season ticket card is Monday 19th May. We feel the current approach could be particularly distressing or confusing for elderly supporters, supporters who have legitimate reasons for not being able to use the technology and supporters with disabilities.

 Our Conclusions

• The Foxes Trust believes that the Club would be making a bad decision to roll out digital tickets in The Championship where there is no mandate to do so. 

• The prospect of digital tickets is disincentivising loyal fans from renewing their season tickets, or purchasing match day tickets, and the apparent lack of openness to hear fan concerns on this issue is further damaging the relationship between the Club and its supporters.

• In a scenario where digital tickets would be necessity (due to the mandate from the Premier League), the current guidance for fans that are eligible for a physical season ticket card is unclear and the limitations placed on Leicester City fans is out of sync with other Premier League clubs.

What Leicester City supporters have told us in recent weeks 

Here is a sample:

– “This decision is discriminatory and entirely at odds with the current era of pushing inclusivity at every turn. I haven’t come across any organisation – of any type/size/sector – that has sought to exclude me from their customer base because I don’t happen to own a smart phone.”

– “As a season ticket holder, I simply don’t want or agree with it. I know people who don’t have a smart phone and/or don’t take it to games with them.”

– “You only have to look at the replies to the Club’s social media posts to see fans are very much opposed to digital ticketing. The club is so far removed from what it once was, it was a community, they used to look after their fans. It’s unrecognisable now to the point we don’t feel valued or respected.”

– “I’ve used digital ticketing on two occasions, on both occasions digital ticketing failed causing me to miss the start of the game.”

– “I can renew and have a digital ticket or not renew at all. That isn’t a choice, it’s an ultimatum.”

– “My work and travel situation means I have a number of occasions where I cannot make it to Leicester. For 12 years my mother has used my ST to accompany my father. This has allowed us to support the club as a family. It is a tragedy that the community and family aspect of easily sharing a ticket is such a problem for the powers that be.”

We ask any supporter whom has had difficulties regarding the exemptions for digital ticketing, or challenges with the current policy that are preventing them from renewing their season ticket, to contact the Trust via the email address enquiries@foxestrust.co.uk so that we can feed this back to the Club.