Government Announces Plan To Tackle Ticket Touting

A new cap on the price of resold tickets for concerts, live sport and other events are among measures that have been announced by the government today.

These measures form part of Government plans to clamp down on ticket touts fleecing the public.

It comes amid a concerning increase in fans wanting to get tickets for popular tours and events coming up against professional touts hoarding tickets and reselling at heavily inflated prices, while others have been caught out by a lack of transparency over the system of dynamic pricing.

According to analysis by the Competition and Market Authority (CMA), typical mark-ups on tickets sold on the secondary market are 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. According to research by Virgin Media O2, ticket touts cost music fans an extra £145 million per year.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said:
“From sports tournaments to Taylor Swift – all too often big events have been dogged by consumers being taken advantage of by ticket touts.

These unfair practices look to fleece people of their hard-earned income, which isn’t fair on fans, venues and artists.

Fans enjoying themselves in the moment are what make concerts and live events the thrilling experiences that they are, which is why as part of our Plan for Change, we are putting them back in control.”

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.”

Musician and DJ Fatboy Slim said:
Great to see money being put back into fans pockets instead of resellers. Fully behind this effort to make sure more people can enjoy incredible arts and music events across the country without being ripped off. It is part of the change this government were elected to make.”

Read the full announcement on the Government website here.