Newcastle United owners claiming ‘commercially sensitive’ information – Not playing fair with fans | OneFootball

It seems that every ballot for Newcastle United home tickets is accompanied by the inevitable flurry of disappointed Newcastle United members lamenting their latest unsuccessful bid to get tickets for home games.

Like so many others, I have felt increasingly frustrated and let down by a system that seems to promise so much, yet deliver so little.

So that prompted me to probe the club a little to see if there was actually an ounce of transparency in the process: and the results did not reflect well on those at Barrack Road.

I contacted NUFC Supporter Services to request data on the number of memberships compared to tickets available via the ballot for home games.

I received a prompt response detailing how much the club values the supporters’ passion and dedication and how frustrated we may feel.

Then came the sucker punch: ticketing and membership information is “commercially sensitive and not something we are able to provide”.

Surely anyone who has asked for similar information has received the same prepared response.

I found it patronising – of course we wouldn’t want commercially sensitive information shared publicly. So I wondered whether, perhaps, my understanding of “commercially sensitive” was incorrect?

A quick Google assured me that I am aware of what the phrase means and I’m still at a loss as to why providing information to the paying supporters about their likelihood of success in a ballot is commercially sensitive.

So, what does it mean?

Commercially sensitive information is something that could provide a business with an advantage over its competitors, relate to third party confidentiality, cause reputational or regulatory harm, or affect financial or strategic interests.

I don’t doubt that the club’s membership scheme is likely a very commercially profitable scheme – thousands of people willing to pay £37 a season, or £47 if you want Mags Plus, with very little cost to the club – 25 per cent off a club tour and three retail discounts a year.

A real money spinner! Bearing this in mind I can see that the final point around affecting financial interests could be a consideration.

Yet isn’t this the same Newcastle United that wants supporters to be the voice of the club? Aren’t they keen to engage with the supporters and listen to their thoughts and ideas? Perhaps more importantly, isn’t this the club that “values” their supporters?

What about consumer rights for all those supporters who have parted with their hard-earned cash? Fairness and transparency are at the heart of consumer rights, so where is the fairness and transparency here?

You might wonder if all Premier League clubs keep this information secret. Perhaps I’m being naïve to think that we have a right to some basic openness.

Sadly, it didn’t take me long to find out that other Premier League clubs are actually treating their supporters far better that Newcastle United treat us. They do not keep this information secret and, in fact, value their fans enough to share this “commercially sensitive” information.

Arsenal

Arsenal produce a ‘Season Ticketing Review’ at the end of every season which is easily accessible online. They include breakdowns of ballots, ticket exchanges and transfers of tickets under their membership / ballot system.

They also include data around how many members applied in total and how many were successful via the ballot or ticket exchange as well as more specific data around average successful ballots per member.

Perhaps, I thought, Arsenal aren’t as commercially savvy as Newcastle? What fools to share such data publicly!

Liverpool

But no, Liverpool – arguably one of the most commercially profitable and commercially successful clubs in the world – shares similar stats with their supporters.

Last season (24/25), they shared that the likelihood of success in the ballot for their members was five per cent. Not much, you might think – but at least they’re open about it, allowing supporters to make an informed choice as consumers before shelling out their membership fees. They also shared other significant data around ballots and membership.

So what have Newcastle United got to hide?

The Newcastle United Supporters Trust did their own survey and from the responses collated came up with the figure of 16.8 per cent success rate. Interestingly, the club disputed this figure but refused to share their data. I also dispute this figure.

Between myself and my five family members we had a success rate last season of 15%.

However, it’s got worse – this season we’ve entered every ballot so far and have a success rate of 0 per cent. That is 60 ballot entries to date and we have been successful zero times! (Man City ballot result pending at the time of writing)

I imagine many more fans became Newcastle United members over the summer but the number of tickets available did not increase. Of course I can only speculate as the club won’t provide the detail. My speculative estimate is that the true number is much closer to the five per cent Liverpool made public to their fans.

So come on Newcastle United, show some respect and transparency to those supporters who you value so much.

We’re not asking for trade secrets or commercially sensitive information that is going to be detrimental to our beloved club.

We’re asking for data so that we can make informed decisions about how we spend our money. Data that other commercially successful premier league clubs are willing to share. Why the secrecy? What have you got to hide?

Every fan understands that demand significantly outweighs supply and most supporters understand that a certain number of tickets need to be made available to corporate and hospitality clients. It is, after all, a business.

But show that you truly value the fans and show us the respect we deserve to share the high-level data with us.

Perhaps if the data shows that there is only a two per cent chance of success, I will still think that £37 a season is worth it for the chance of one or two tickets a season, but that is my decision to make and every supporter should be given the opportunity to make that informed choice themselves.