1. FC Cologne links season tickets to membership: 5,000 holders must follow suit by the end of July

1. FC Cologne is changing its season ticket system: Starting from the 2026/27 season, a season ticket will only be possible with club membership. For around 5,000 current season ticket holders without membership, the decision becomes concrete – they must join to keep their ticket.

According to the club, the basis is a member survey from April. 18,000 people took part, and 72 percent voted to make season tickets obligatorily linked to membership in the future. The FC is now implementing this vote as a rule: Anyone who is a season ticket holder but not a member and does not follow suit will lose their entitlement; vacated seats will go to fans on the waiting list.

Membership becomes a fixed requirement

The club says it has already contacted the affected season ticket holders. They must decide by June 15, and the membership must be completed by July 31 at the latest. For adults, FC puts the annual fee at 92 euros.

The club justifies the step mainly with the demand and internal prioritization. In a club statement it says: "As a club with more than 165,000 members, some of whom have been on the waiting list for season tickets for many years, we are fulfilling our responsibility and, based on the survey result, will link all season tickets to membership from the 2026/27 season onwards." In January, FC itself communicated a membership number of 160,000 – now it classifies itself as "more than 165,000".

Waiting list as leverage: over 45,000 registered fans

The measure is less directed against individual fan groups than against a structural problem: There are significantly more interested parties than seats. According to the club, more than 45,000 fans are now on the waiting list for a season ticket. With a limited number of season tickets, membership thus becomes the decisive filter – not as a bonus, but as an access requirement.

FC speaks in this context of fairness and transparency. The adjustment is intended to ensure a "fair and transparent allocation of season tickets" that many members have wished for. In practical terms, this means: Anyone who currently holds a season ticket without club membership will in future have to submit to the membership system – otherwise, the waiting list will move up.

The usage requirement is also being tightened

At the same time, the club is tightening the rules for using the season ticket. The minimum usage increases from the previous twelve to fourteen home games. "Usage" counts not only as attending the stadium, but also private transfer and sale via the ticket exchange.

The direction is clear: FC wants to prevent seats from remaining empty despite high demand and to bring the available contingents more into actual stadium use. Together with the new membership requirement, the club is thus changing two central levers at the same time – who is allowed to have a season ticket and how regularly it must be used. For the 5,000 affected holders without membership, this is no longer a fundamental discussion, but a decision with deadlines and clear consequences.