Making the re-selling of tickets work for fans

Sharon Hodgson MP is Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Ticket Abuse, which has previously published a report highlighting a number of recommendations to improve the way tickets can be re-sold and reduce the incidence of fraud and exploitation. The APPG continues to press the Government and campaign on these issues on behalf of consumers and sports fans.

Fans have just over a week to make their views on ticket touting heard by a landmark review of how the market works.

The market for the re-sale of tickets – also known as the secondary ticketing market - is worth an estimated £1bn a year. Sports, music and other live events are big business, and sellers can stand to make a real profit through secondary platforms such as Get Me In, Seatwave, StubHub and Viagogo. Unfortunately, this can be to the detriment of fans. Often, fans are not able to make an informed decision when it comes to buying tickets due to the lack of transparency and information from sellers and can end up paying astronomical prices, or even be duped into buying fake tickets.

Since 2010 I have been leading a campaign in Parliament for better regulation of the secondary ticketing market to protect fans from the worst practices of ticket touts.

Five years ago, I tabled a Private Member’s Bill - the Sale of Tickets (Sporting and Cultural Events) Bill 2010/12 - calling for mark-ups on tickets (which were being re-sold against the express wishes of the event organiser) of no more than ten percent. Unfortunately, this Bill fell at the end of the Parliamentary session, due to the opposition of a number of Government backbenchers (including the now Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills Sajid Javid), and never made it onto the Statute Book.

However, in March of last year, campaigners spanning a wide range of music, arts and sporting organisations, including the Sport and Recreation Alliance, achieved a landmark success in the form of an amendment to the Consumer Rights Bill (now Act), to include measures on secondary ticketing.

The Consumer Rights Act requires, amongst other things, that key details be given at the time of resale, including the face value of the ticket, the seat number or seating area as well as any restrictions that apply. Without this information, it’s impossible for fans to tell whether what they’re buying is a good deal!

However, after studying some of the top resale ticket websites, which included tickets for major sports events like the Rugby World Cup and Six Nations, consumer rights group Which? found key booking information missing in a number of instances.

This evidence comes to light at the same time as the recently announced Government Review of the consumer protection measures in the Consumer Rights Act covering the secondary ticket market.

The Review, chaired by Professor Michael Waterson, is focusing on the secondary ticket market for the re-sale of tickets for UK sporting, entertainment and cultural events. The Government has issued a Call for Evidence and I would urge all sports fans, teams, clubs, sporting organisations and event organisers to submit evidence to the Review by the deadline of 20th November 2015.

Details on how fans can make a submission can be found on the Fans First website. This is one of the few chances the public have to make themselves heard about institutionalised touting – you can help us to make sure we keep putting fans first.

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