UK government pledges to ‘tackle greedy touts’

The UK Government has launched its much-anticipated consultation into the secondary ticketing market with a pledge to “tackle greedy touts and give power back to fans”.

A new cap on the price of resale tickets are among measures that will be considered, alongside plans to limit the number of tickets resellers can list to the maximum they are allowed to purchase on the primary market.

In addition, there are proposals to increase the accountability of ticket resale websites and apps, creating new legal obligations so that they can be held responsible by Trading Standards and the Competition and Market Authority for the accuracy of information they provide to fans.

The Government says it will also review existing legislation to strengthen consumer protection, including stronger fines and a new licensing regime for resale platforms.

Launching the consultation, UK Government Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “The chance to see your favourite musicians or sports team live is something all of us enjoy and everyone deserves a fair shot at getting tickets – but for too long fans have had to endure the misery of touts hoovering up tickets for resale at vastly inflated prices.

“As part of our Plan for Change, we are taking action to strengthen consumer protections, stop fans getting ripped off and ensure money spent on tickets goes back into our incredible live events sector, instead of into the pockets of greedy touts.”

“For too long fans have had to endure the misery of touts hoovering up tickets for resale at vastly inflated prices”

The consultation marks a significant milestone for the UK live music industry, which has long-campaigned for additional restrictions on the secondary market.

According to analysis by the Competition and Market Authority, typical mark-ups on tickets sold on the secondary market are often more than 50 per cent and investigations by Trading Standards have uncovered evidence of tickets being resold for up to six times their original cost. Research by Virgin Media O2 indicated that ticket touts cost music fans an extra £145 million per year.

The CMA has estimated the value of tickets sold in 2019 through secondary ticketing platforms to be about £350 million, with around 1.9 million tickets sold on these platforms. 1.9 million tickets accounted for around 5 to 6% of the number of primary tickets sold in 2019.

Adam Webb, Campaign Manager at FanFair Alliance, said: “These suggested measures are potentially game-changing. Other countries, notably Ireland, have demonstrated how legislation to prevent the resale of tickets for profit can massively curb the illegal and anti-consumer practices of online ticket touts and offshore resale platforms. The UK simply needs to follow their example.”

The industry looks certain to weigh in strongly behind the Government’s proposals, though IQ understands that as yet there is no agreement on the level of resale uplift the industry will recommend, with the Government asking for views on a range from 0% to 30%.

In previous statements the Government indicated that it would be looking at resale cap at 10% above face value.

A spokesperson for Ticketmaster said they were “committed to making ticketing simple and transparent”.

They added: “Since 2018, our resale has been capped at face value, providing fans a safe place to sell tickets they can’t use at the original price set by artists and event organisers. We support proposals to introduce an industry-wide resale price cap. We also urge the government to crack down on bots and ban speculative ticket sales.

“Ticketmaster welcomes any action to protect fans and give them the best chance of getting tickets to the events they love.”

“These suggested measures are potentially game-changing”

Jon Collins, Chief Executive of LIVE, the UK live music trade body, said: “LIVE welcomes this positive step to put fans back at the heart of live music by tackling ticket touting. We have been a long-term and vociferous advocate for regulation of the secondary market, supporting the great work of the FanFair Alliance, and are pleased to see government delivering on its manifesto commitment in this area.

“We are delighted that measures which permit responsible and fair fan-to-fan resale, while eliminating third-party profiteering, will be brought forward. This will reduce the incentive for touts to squeeze fans out of the primary sale and highlights the need to set the cap on resales at or near the original price.

The secondary ticketing industry is expected to lobby strongly against new resale curbs. A spokesperson for viagogo told IQ: “We will continue to constructively engage with the Government and look forward to responding in full to the consultation and call for evidence on improving consumer protections in the ticketing market.”

The government had initially said the consultation would be published in the Autumn of 2024 but the timing was pushed back, with industry sources fearful it had been derailed by the furore surrounding the Oasis ticket onsale. Last August, millions of fans found themselves in an hours-long queue, with some then served tickets priced much higher than originally expected, leading to a media and political outcry.

In response to that, alongside the formal consultation the government has launched a “call for evidence into pricing practices in the live events sector, such as dynamic pricing”.

The government says it is looking for views “on how the ticketing system in the live events sector is working for fans and whether the current system provides sufficient protection from unfair practices”.

It will also consider “whether there is potential for new harms to consumers to arise from emerging business trends including the use of new technologies and dynamic pricing”.

The consultation will be open until 4 April 2025, with full details here.

IQ will be publishing a deep dive on secondary ticketing regulation across Europe in the next issue of the magazine.

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