Wigan Athletic football club must pay damages for ticket sale failure

Wigan Athletic football club has been ordered to pay compensation after signing a contract to provide match tickets that it did not have the authority to sell.

The case arose after the club entered into an agreement with the sporting events ticket provider, Ticket2Final. Under the contract, Wigan granted the company an option to buy 5,000 tickets for each round of the Carling Cup and FA Cup, and to buy 10,000 tickets for the semi-final and final of those cups.

In return, Ticket2Final agreed to pay the club an annual fee. In the contract, Wigan stated that it was authorised and had the power to deliver those tickets.

In 2013, Wigan reached the final of the FA Cup and won the trophy at Wembley Stadium. However, it was unable to provide the 10,000 tickets referred to in the agreement. It turned out that the sale and distribution of tickets to matches at Wembley was not carried out by the clubs but by the Football Association.

Ticket2Final took legal action claiming damages for misrepresentation and breach of contract.

Wigan argued that it had terminated the contract on the grounds that the company had been late in making some payments.

The court ruled in favour of Ticket2Final. It accepted that the company had been late in making some payments but that was not enough to justify terminating the agreement.

Wigan, however, had breached the terms of the contract and so the company was entitled to £30,000 damages; the sum it had paid when entering into the agreement.

Please contact Sarah Liddiard if you would like more information about the issues raised in this article or any matter relating to contract law.