🎟️ Live Events Ticketing: Resale and Pricing Practices

• The UK government has launched a consultation on the resale of live event tickets and a call for evidence on pricing practices in the live events sector, aiming to tackle ticket touting and pricing issues.

• Ticket touting, or scalping, where tickets are bought in bulk and resold at much higher prices, has been a long-standing problem that the government intends to address to protect fans and support the live events industry.

• The consultation explores various measures such as a licensing regime for resale platforms, limits on how many tickets an individual can resell, and a statutory price cap on ticket resales to prevent profiteering.

• Dynamic pricing, where ticket prices fluctuate based on demand, is under review. The government wants to ensure it is used fairly and transparently, not to exploit fans’ excitement.

• The opposition raised concerns that price caps might lead to more black market activity, potentially resulting in higher scam rates and empty seats at events.

• There is support across parties for the government’s plans, but some MPs suggested that the measures should be implemented quickly and enforced robustly to be effective.

• Suggestions were made to consider international cooperation due to many ticket touts operating overseas and to keep fees transparent to prevent consumers from being overcharged.

• The government is committed to acting swiftly after the consultation ends to protect fans, ensure fair access to live events, and support the creative and hospitality sectors.

The parliamentary session on ‘Live Events Ticketing: Resale and Pricing Practices’ displayed a moderate level of disagreement among members. The disagreement primarily emerged between the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, Chris Bryant, and the opposition, particularly the shadow Minister, Saqib Bhatti, over the proposed measures to tackle secondary ticket resale and dynamic pricing. The shadow Minister expressed concerns that price caps on resale tickets could lead to an upsurge in black market activity and reduce consumer protections, directly opposing the Minister’s stance on implementing such caps. However, the session also showed significant consensus and support from other members across different parties for the government’s proposed actions. Many members, including those from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and the SNP, expressed strong support for the Minister’s initiatives, praising the efforts to address the issue of ticket touting. The disagreements, while notable especially in the shadow Minister’s critique, were somewhat balanced by the overall support and the focus on constructive suggestions on how to improve the proposed measures, thus earning a moderate disagreement rating of 2.