Athletic remove 1,019 courtesy invites at San Mamés and project €1.3m gain

Athletic Club has confirmed it is removing 1,019 courtesy invitations and estimates the move will bring a projected gain of €1.3 million, according to statements by president Jon Uriarte reported by MARCA.

Free up seats to sell

Uriarte framed the decision as part of a longer plan for “a better, stronger, more competitive and sustainable Athletic”. He stressed the need to manage club assets rigorously, pointing to San Mamés as the key point of demand: the waiting list for season tickets runs beyond 11,000 people, with some matches already facing unmet demand.

The club detailed how the cancelled invites are spread across different groups. In Uriarte’s breakdown, specific losses include 172 passes for the men’s first team and 120 invitations for former players. Overall, the 1,019 invites are distributed among the board (88), employee members (354), former players (120), former presidents (36), the women’s first team and Bilbao Athletic (102), the men’s first team (172) and other groups (147).

More sales, new members

The club says that by freeing those seats it will increase the number of tickets put on sale and create new members from that extensive waiting list. It also plans to offer roughly 600 tickets to be allocated to youth players, sponsors and foundation-linked companies, plus other sports-related groups.

Uriarte added that the first-team players will keep a preferential right to buy a paid ticket quota for each match. He also referenced a meeting with the captains last week, where the issue and other concerns were discussed.

Reactions and reasoning

The president acknowledged the measure has not been equally well received. As reported by MARCA, he said different groups reacted differently and highlighted particular discomfort among some former presidents, while arguing the overall aim is to benefit Athletic by improving revenues without “tightening the belt”—with the club’s goal of balancing accounts and continuing to grow.