Resale of music & sport event tickets above face value to be banned

Reselling live events tickets for profit is set to be banned by the Government in a bid to make music & sport events more accessible.

Ministers are expected to announce the plan to tackle touts and resale sites which offer tickets at several times’ their face value.

The Labour manifesto promised stronger protections to stop consumers being scammed or priced out of events by touts, who frequently use bots to buy tickets in bulk the moment they go on sale, which they can then sell on for huge mark-ups on secondary ticketing websites.

A consultation on the changes had canvassed views on capping costs at up to 30% above the face value of a ticket.

But reports in the Guardian and Financial Times revealed ministers were expected to set the limit at the face value, although fees could still be charged on top of that price.

The move, which could be announced on Wednesday, follows a campaign by some of the biggest names in music to cut costs for fans.

Dua Lipa, who performed at Anfield in June, as well as Coldplay and Radiohead were last week among artists urging the Government to honour the pledge to cap resale prices.

The Cure’s Robert Smith, New Order, Mark Knopfler, Iron Maiden, PJ Harvey and Mercury Prize-winner Sam Fender joined them in signing a statement calling for a cap to “restore faith in the ticketing system” and “help democratise public access to the arts”.

Other signatories included the watchdog Which?, FanFair Alliance, O2, the Football Supporters’ Association and organisations representing the music and theatre industries, venues, managers and ticket retailers.

Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy at Which?, said:

“This is great news for music and sports fans.

“A price cap set at the ticket’s original face value plus fees will rein in professional touts and put tickets back in the hands of real fans.

“For far too long, music and sports fans who missed out on tickets in the initial sales have been ripped off by touts on secondary ticketing sites and forced to pay over the odds to see their favourite artist perform or watch their team play.

“The Government must listen to our coalition of performers, fans, consumer groups and the UK music industry and show that the price cap is a priority by including the necessary legislation in the King’s Speech.”

Ticketmaster’s parent company Live Nation Entertainment backed the move.

In a statement the firm said:

“Live Nation fully supports the UK Government’s plan to ban ticket resale above face value.

“Ticketmaster already limits all resale in the UK to face value prices and this is another major step forward for fans, cracking down on exploitative touting to help keep live events accessible. We encourage others around the world to adopt similar fan-first policies.”

But resale firm StubHub warned the move could fuel the black market in tickets.

A spokesman for StubHub International said:

“The Government’s intention to implement a price cap on the resale of live event tickets will condemn fans to take risks to see their favourite live events.

“With a price cap on regulated marketplaces, ticket transactions will move to black markets.

“When a regulated market becomes a black market, only bad things happen for consumers. Fraud, fear and zero recourse.”

A Viagogo spokesman said:

“Evidence shows price caps have repeatedly failed fans, in countries like Ireland and Australia fraud rates are nearly four times higher than in the UK as price caps push consumers towards unregulated sites.”

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