Christopher BarrettThe UK Government has confirmed today that it intends to wipe out industrial-scale ticket touting by making it illegal to resell live events tickets for above the original cost.
In a widely predicted move, that has been warmly welcomed by representatives from across the live events industry, many of whom have been campaigning for anti-tout legislation for years, the Government said it is introducing measures will destroy the operating model of ticket touts who have been profiteering from the resale of tickets to concerts, theatre, comedy, sport and other live events.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Department for Business and Trade issued a statement outlining the measures:
- Ticket resale above face value will be illegal – this will be defined in legislation as the original ticket price plus unavoidable fees, including service charges
- Service fees charged by resale platforms will be capped to prevent the price limit being undermined
- Resale platforms will have a legal duty to monitor and enforce compliance with the price cap
- Individuals will be banned from reselling more tickets than they were entitled to buy in the initial ticket sale
The Government expects the measures to save fans around £112 million annually, with 900,000 more tickets bought directly from primary sellers each year.
DCMS said the new rules will apply to any platform reselling tickets to UK fans, including secondary ticketing platforms and social media websites. Businesses who break the regulations could be subject to financial penalties of up to 10% of global turnover from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), under new powers introduced the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act 2024.
“For too long, ticket touts have ripped off fans, using bots to snap up batches of tickets and resell them at sky-high prices. They’ve become a shadow industry on resale sites, acting without consequence,” said Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy. “Our new proposals will shut down the touts’ racket and make world-class music, comedy, theatre and sport affordable for everyone.”
The news comes nearly a decade after the FanFair Alliance was launched by managers of artists including Arctic Monkeys, One Direction, Mumford & Sons and PJ Harvey, to unite members of the music and creative community in the fight against industrial-scale online ticket touting.
“It’s taken years of FanFair campaigning to get to this point, but having listened to the concerns of artists, campaigners and the wider music sector, the Government now has a clear and pragmatic plan in place to tackle the scourge of exploitative online ticket touting,” said its campaign manager Adam Webb. “However, there is an urgency to deliver. Every day that passes before new legislation comes into effect, will see more fans ripped off by touts. For that reason alone, it is vital a cap on ticket resale prices is introduced and enforced at the earliest possible opportunity.”
Among the many other industry figures to welcome the news was LIVE CEO Jon Collins who said, “For too long, exploitative resellers have treated fans like cash machines, hoarding tickets and inflating prices, while contributing nothing to the industry. This crackdown is a vital step toward fans securing gig tickets at a fair price and artists, promoters and venues being properly supported.
“This is the moment when money stops lining the pockets of touts and starts going back where it belongs – into the hands of those who create and enjoy live entertainment.”
Sharon Hodgson MP, Washington and Gateshead South & chair of the APPG on Ticket Abuse said that after 15 years of campaigning, she is delighted that the Government has listened to fans, artists, athletes and venues, and committed to reasonable measures to cap the secondary ticketing market.
“Today’s announcement is a monumental endorsement by this Government of our live events sector and its potential to inspire current and future generations,” she said. “I will continue to push the Government to introduce a bill as soon as possible and, at long last, to put fans first.”
Ed Sheeran’s manager Stuart Camp said, “For anyone who cares about music fans and ticket prices, today’s announcement is long overdue. We’ve seen first-hand the positive impact of price caps elsewhere in the world, and these proposals have the potential to transform the UK’s live music sector and protect audiences from exploitation. I trust they will be implemented without delay.”
According to analysis by the CMA, typical mark-ups on secondary market tickets exceed 50%, whilst investigations by Trading Standards has uncovered evidence of tickets being resold for up to six times their original cost.