How football fans are ripped off on the black market

The black market is their last resort: A BR report followed fans searching for tickets for the 2025 DFB Cup and Champions League finals. While dealers are making a profit, fans are taking high risks for their dream of a ticket.

Munich, May 31, 2025. UEFA Champions League final. The duel between Europe's two best clubs: Paris Saint-Germain versus Inter Milan. Inter fan Marco and his friends have traveled all the way from Romania to Munich.

Demand for tickets is huge. They were only able to get their tickets through a secondary ticket market online: "We bought four tickets for 30,000 euros," says Marco. The original prices for regular tickets vary between 70 and 950 euros, depending on the seat. Marco, on the other hand, paid 7,500 euros for one ticket.

But now he has to go to the ticket center in front of the stadium. "We can't get the QR code." No QR code, no ticket—and therefore no entry. And kickoff is in two hours.

BR24Sport accompanied fans at the 2025 DFB Cup and Champions League finals for a report on the ticket black market in football.

Since demand for finals significantly exceeds supply, the secondary market is often the last opportunity for many fans to see their club in the stadium.

Experts estimate that for highlight games such as the Champions League or the DFB Cup final, 30 to 50 percent of all tickets end up on the secondary market.

This is a problem that the German government is now addressing. In the coalition agreement, it announced its intention to impose stricter regulations on sporting and cultural events. The following three points are cited as examples: There should be price caps on secondary market platforms, as well as greater transparency regarding the original price and the seller.

In addition, platforms would be required to delete false information. The Federal Ministry of Justice responded to a BR inquiry: "We are currently examining how these requirements can best be implemented."

There were numerous offers for tickets for the 2025 Champions League final and the DFB Cup final online on the secondary market, often at many times the original price.

Markus Bohner sits in an office in Munich. He stares intently at the screen. He scans the listings on sales platforms and writes them down. Because he's chasing the sellers.

Markus Bohner works at the Lentze Stopper law firm in Munich. The DFB has commissioned them to take action against ticket resale.

The resale of tickets is not clearly regulated by law in Germany and is not a criminal offense. Therefore, organizers such as UEFA and the DFB regulate ticket resale themselves to curb the black market. They do this through their General Ticket Terms and Conditions (ATGB).

For example, the German Football Association (DFB) prohibits the commercial resale of tickets in its General Terms and Conditions. Only private distribution is permitted.

This means: If you can't attend the game, for example due to illness, you can pass the ticket on to friends and acquaintances and add a maximum of ten percent to the original price. The DFB prohibits selling for more money or via platforms such as eBay, classifieds, or Viagogo.

To ensure compliance with these rules, the DFB has commissioned the Munich-based law firm to take action against ticket resales. Tickets discovered by Markus Bohner on such platforms and which the DFB can attribute to an original purchaser will be blocked and invalidated.

Ultimately, this means that anyone with such a ticket will be denied entry to the stadium. Ticket resellers will be warned by the law firm, even if the tickets are sold online at the original price.

"It's always possible that a ticket currently being sold on eBay or in the classifieds at its original price will sell for €3,000 in two weeks," says Markus Bohner of Lentze Stopper. According to the law firm, professional dealers buy tickets online and resell them at a higher price. Even those who sell their tickets at their original price can inadvertently support the black market – and inadvertently supply tickets to dealers.

But there are other ways professional dealers could obtain tickets. According to research by BR24Sport, there were apparently loopholes in the DFB's online sales for the 2025 DFB Cup final.

The number of tickets was actually limited to four. Fans on the social network X wrote that it was possible to circumvent this restriction. One of these fans spoke with BR24Sport.

According to him, after ordering four tickets, he was not automatically logged out of the ticket shop as intended. He was able to order tickets again without having to wait in line again. He ordered 16 tickets in total. BR24Sport has the invoice and payment confirmations for the bookings.

In response to an inquiry, the DFB wrote: "Despite extensive security mechanisms, the misuse of individual vulnerabilities in the digital environment can unfortunately never be completely ruled out," adding: "For this year's DFB Cup final, around 150 such multiple bookings were identified and consistently canceled."

But the fan BR24Sport was able to speak to entered the stadium with all 16 tickets. His tickets were apparently not canceled. If he slipped through the DFB's fingers, could retailers have gotten away with them as well?

Back to Inter fan Marco and his friends. They bought four tickets for the 2025 Champions League final in Munich on the secondary market – for €30,000. Kickoff is now only 30 minutes away – and they still don't have the QR code and therefore the ticket. Are you missing your club's biggest game?

This is the European perspective at BR24.

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Source: BR24Sport 27.07.2025 - 18:00