Christopher BarrettA group of major secondary ticketing operators, including representatives from Viagogo and StubHub, met this month to discuss a plan to overturn the Labour Party’s recently announced pledge to clean up the UK’s ticketing market.
The Guardian has published footage of a private event organised by US-based lobby group the Coalition for Ticket Fairness (CTF), during which a campaign to target MPs was discussed. According to the report, attendees pledged £73,000 to hire a “bulletproof” political lobbyist to influence politicians.
The report also revealed that Michael Mayiger was among the attendees. In 2012, he was convicted of a £2m fraud involving him using fake identities to acquire Premier League football club memberships. Mayiger now runs Switzerland-based ticket business Gigsberg, which was one of the sponsors of the event.
Labour has announced a policy commitment to introduce new legislation to cap resale prices of tickets, limit the number of tickets people can resell, and to make platforms such as Viagogo accountable for the provenance of tickets they list.
Starmer said, “A Labour government will cap resale prices so fans can see the acts that they love at a fair price. Arts for the people and by the people. This is something I don’t think the Tories understand. Look how the Tory culture secretary in 2014 – if you can cast your mind back a dozen culture secretaries or so – said that only the ‘chattering middle classes and champagne socialists’ care about ticket prices.”
FanFair Alliance campaign manager Adam Webb told AAA, “The Guardian’s report is both jaw-dropping and alarming. It reveals a deep-seated collusion of interests across the UK’s so-called secondary ticketing market – all dancing to the tune of US scalpers and their investors. It also highlights precisely why we need fresh legislation to cap resale prices and protect British audiences.”