The U.K. government is taking action to prevent inflated ticket resale for entertainment and sports events. The proposed legislation aims to prohibit reselling tickets for more than their original face value across various live event categories. Lisa Nandy, British Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport, emphasized the need to stop ticket scalpers who exploit fans using automated bots to purchase and resell tickets at exorbitant prices.
This initiative follows a plea from musicians, including Coldplay and Dua Lipa, urging British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to address the issue of websites engaging in unfair ticket resales. The government estimates that implementing these measures could save fans approximately £112 million annually and lead to an additional 900,000 tickets being bought directly from primary sellers each year.
In the U.K., Viagogo and StubHub dominate the secondary ticket market, while Ticketmaster previously operated its own resale platforms, Get Me In! and Seatwave, before transitioning to a capped resale system. Adam Webb of the Fan Fair Alliance in London, a group advocating against online scalping, believes that the regulation will specifically target the unethical practices of scalpers who manipulate ticket prices to generate artificial demand.
The new rules will apply to all ticket-selling platforms in the U.K., including social media channels like Facebook Marketplace. Violating businesses may face financial penalties. Webb pointed out that both major and minor events are affected by scalping, with examples ranging from high-priced tickets for popular shows to significantly inflated prices for smaller venues.
While the proposed legislation is a significant step, Webb stressed the importance of turning it into law to bring about meaningful change in the ticketing market. In Canada, Vass Bednar of the Canadian Shield Institute commended the U.K.’s response to public concerns about ticket pricing, highlighting the need for similar discussions in Canada. She mentioned the investigation into Ticketmaster’s pricing practices in the U.K. as an example of regulatory scrutiny on ticket resale issues.
Despite some skepticism about the effectiveness of capping ticket resale, there is a push for public support to expedite the legislative process in the U.K. to address long-standing exploitation in the ticketing industry. Webb emphasized the financial impact on fans and the creative economy due to excessive ticket prices. Bednar expressed concern over the rising cost of tickets, which can exclude average families from enjoying cultural events like sports games and concerts.