The UK appears to be a step closer to an outright ban on ticket touts ripping off fans, after the competition watchdog threw its weight behind government plans to cap ticket resale prices.
In a blow to websites such as Viagogo and StubHub, which make hundreds of millions a year lawfully by selling access to popular gigs and shows, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said for the first time that it would back a ceiling on “secondary” ticket prices.
The move would all but outlaw the resale of music and theatre tickets, which is not illegal, although some touts have been jailed for using fraudulent methods as part of their business practices.
A price cap of up to 10% above face value was among Labour’s 2024 election manifesto pledges, as it responded to public anger about professional touts and resale platforms charging huge markups to see acts such as Ed Sheeran and Oasis.
The policy posed such a threat to touts that dozens of the UK’s most prolific resellers held a secret meeting aimed at lobbying to stop it.
However, the CMA’s full-throated support could now play a pivotal role in whether the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) makes good on the policy.
The consumer watchdog has previously stopped short of calling for a hard cap, instead seeking to enforce existing consumer laws, including through the courts.
But in a submission to a DCMS consultation, the CMA said that the secondary marketplace was still beset by practices hurting consumers.
These included bulk-buying by touts, sometimes illegally, failure to provide fans with correct information and “speculative selling”, a fraudulent practice where touts advertise tickets they don’t have to bank a sale, hoping to source them later.
The CMA said that a cap would “protect consumers from excessive resale pricing”, as long as it was properly enforced.
It said the government would have to take strict action against those who break the rules, including by selling tickets on social media, where consumer guarantees are unlikely to be in place.
It also warned of the danger that resale sites would simply increase booking fees to compensate for lost profits, saying measures to stop this would have to be written into any new law.
Adam Webb of the music industry campaign group FanFair Alliance said the CMA’s position was a “step-change” in efforts to stop touting.
“They clearly recognise that this is a sector still rife with illegal practices,” he said.
“If implemented and enforced correctly, a cap would present a significant blow for Viagogo and their suppliers.”
Viagogo bought StubHub for $4bn in 2021, although the CMA forced it to sell StubHub’s UK operation to satisfy competition concerns.
The US StubHub is now set to press ahead with a stock market float reportedly valuing the business at up to $16.5bn (£12.8bn). The valuation could be affected by a ban on resale in the UK, one of the world’s biggest markets for events.
In 2019, a CMA report found that Viagogo and StubHub sold 1.9m tickets in the UK that year, with a value of £350m. More than 50% of their tickets were sold at above face value.
StubHub International, the part of the business that was not sold to Viagogo, said: “Research, conducted by Bradshaw Advisory, shows that jurisdictions which enforce resale bans or price caps, such as Victoria, Australia, and Ireland have ticket fraud rates almost four times higher than in the UK. If UK rates were to match those levels, consumers could face £1.2bn in fraud-related losses annually.
“We look forward to working with the government to ensure any proposed policy changes are focused on protecting fans and providing access to the events they love.”
