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.
Announcement puts music, theatre, comedy and sports fans back at the heart of live events and delivers plan for change to keep more money in the pockets of working people
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, as part of 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.
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.
That’s why the government has today launched a public consultation which sets out a range of measures in the ticket resale market that aim to better protect fans, improve access to live events and support the growth of the UK’s world leading live events sector.
These measures come as part of the Government’s Plan for Change, with these plans aimed at saving money for consumers and keeping more money in the pockets of hardworking people.