Broker Sues Soccer Team Over Season Tickets

A ticket broker who says he hauled in $250,000 yearly by reselling Major League Soccer tickets is suing a team for not renewing his numerous season ticket packages.

Todd Nelson says he is a ticket broker who buys season tickets packages and resells tickets to individual games. He claims he makes $250,000 annually on Portland Timbers Major League Soccer tickets alone, according to the Seattle PostIntelligencer.

Ted S. Warren/AP –
Portland Timbers goalkeeper Jeff Attinellak right, grabs the ball as Seattle Sounders forward Clint Dempsey, left, and Timbers’ Zarek Valentin, center, look on in the second half of an MLS soccer match in Seattle.

Nelson alleges in an Aug. 15 complaint that Peregrine Sports LLC, which operates as the Portland Timbers, unfairly revoked his right to renew 111 season ticket packages he purchased with the intention of reselling, according to Law 360. Nelson’s packages allegedly include seats in the front rows and other premium seating at the Timbers’ home stadium of Providence Park in Portland, Ore.

Nelson says the team never previously objected to his reselling and actually approved of it because the Timbers received compensation from StubHub, according to Law 360.  

The Timbers terminated Nelson’s rights to acquire the season tickets saying it wanted to make them available to some of the 12,000 people on the waiting list. Nelson says the team ultimately sold the seats to a different broker. Nelson says his season tickets came with renewal and ownership rights and he is now suffering financially. 

The soccer club appears to have little sympathy for Nelson’s plight. A team rep told the Post Intelligencer: “We are confident that the court will uphold our rights as a club to control how our tickets are distributed.”