Stuart WoodThe Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has released an open letter addressed to event organisers, explaining their responsibilities when it comes to ticket resale.
The letter, which can be viewed in full here, comes following the CMA issuing a court order against Viagogo, and subsequently releasing a set of guidelines which Viagogo, Stubhub and Ticketmaster are forced to comply with, in order to provide greater transparency to users.
As a result of the guidelines, secondary ticketing sites GETMEIN! and Seatwave closed down last year.
The letter advises event organisers that, if they are to put restrictions on secondary tickets in place, this must be clearly and prominently displayed on the event home page and the first page of the purchase process of official sellers.
This is to avoid the situation which occurred last year, when Ed Sheeran and his team said they would not accept any tickets that had been purchased through Viagogo, as they were against the eye-watering resale prices reached on the website.
As a result, some fans attended the concert and were told they could not enter. A two-way lawsuit between Sheeran’s team and Viagogo ensued throughout the latter stages of 2018, which you can read up on here.
The letter also advises organisers they must notify secondary ticket resellers about any problems with information relevant to the event tickets. It reads: “The CMA carried out a number of discussions with organisers of music, theatre and sporting events.
“Following these discussions, the CMA has decided to help event organisers that use restrictions on resale to be clearer on where they stand – by setting out steps that they can take to reduce the risk of the CMA prioritising enforcement action against them for using unfair terms.”