FanFair Alliance has ramped up calls for a price cap on resale tickets after accusing secondary ticketing site Viagogo of “misleading and potentially unlawful practices”.

The UK-based campaign group against industrial-scale ticket touting says it has collated a number of potential offences by Viagogo since the government launched its consultation into the resale market back in January.

It alleges the company has engaged in multiple cases of speculative selling and broken the UK Consumer Rights Act by permitting professional touts to list tickets with non-existent seat numbers and incorrect face values, as well as drip pricing and other misleading practices.

“To continue promoting such exploitative and unlawful practices during the consultation period really takes the biscuit,” says FanFair Alliance’s campaign manager Adam Webb. “It reiterates why we urgently need a price cap to stop this ongoing exploitation of fans, and to allow a fair and consumer-friendly model of ticket resale to flourish.”

Labour MP Sharon Hodgson, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on ticket abuse, describes the findings as “outrageous but completely unsurprising”.

“I will continue to work with FanFair Alliance and the government to end this blatant black market once and for all,” she says.

In a statement to IQ, a spokesperson for Viagogo says: “Viagogo takes its obligations under the law seriously and is fully compliant in the UK and with the CMA order.

“Our policies prohibit speculative listings. Any alleged speculative listing that we identify as being speculative is removed from our platform in line with our policy. Sellers found to be in breach of our policy will be dealt with including permanent suspension from using our platform.

“We remain committed to operating a safe, transparent, and lawful marketplace for fans to buy and sell tickets.”

“Eliminating the incentive to harvest tickets is the right thing to do”

The UK live music industry came out strongly in favour of a price cap on resale tickets ahead of the government’s consultation deadline at the start of this month. The FanFair Alliance has advocated for a cap of no more than 10% over face value, while bolstering existing legislation to prevent speculative ticketing and fraud, alongside a dedicated approach to enforcement.

LIVE CEO Jon Collins says the latest examples flagged up by the organisation reinforce “the pressing need for swift government action”.

“Eliminating the incentive to harvest tickets is the right thing to do, will reduce distress caused to fans and open up new economic activity,” he says.

Annabella Coldrick, CEO of the Music Managers Forum (MMF), whose members who established the FanFair campaign in 2016, adds that a price cap on ticket resale is “the only way to end these abuses”.

Last week, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a complaint by the FanFair Alliance, which challenged the claim made in a podcast advert that “over half the events listed on Viagogo had tickets selling below face value”.

“We considered that the claim, as it would be understood by consumers, had not been substantiated and was therefore misleading,” concluded the ASA.

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The UK live music industry has come out strongly in favour of a price cap on resale tickets as the government’s consultation into the secondary market draws to a close.

But ahead of Friday’s deadline (4 April) IQ understands there is no consensus on the acceptable level of resale uplift the UK business will recommend. The government previously indicated it would be looking to cap resale at 10% above face value, but sought views on levels ranging from no uplift at all to 30%.

The long-anticipated consultation was initiated back in January, with the government vowing to “tackle greedy touts and give power back to fans”. Interested parties including fans, ticketing platforms and the wider live events sector were invited to submit responses.

Jonathan Brown, CEO of the Society of Ticket Retailers (STAR), says the organisation supports a “consumer-first approach” to resale.

“We back a capped resale model that already operates effectively in the UK, enabling genuine fans to resell tickets they can’t use, while preventing the kind of speculative profiteering that distorts the market,” he says. “A mandated price cap will help remove the incentive for touts to purchase tickets at scale for resale and therefore reduce bot attacks, protect consumers, and ensure fairer access to events.

“However, any new legislation needs to be backed with agile, responsive and effective enforcement, including against offshore resellers and platforms seeking to ignore UK law.”

“Ticketmaster welcomes any action to protect fans and support the live industry”

Speaking to IQ, Ticketmaster UK MD Andrew Parsons says the company is committed to making ticketing “simple and transparent”.

“Since 2018, our resale service has been capped at the original price paid, providing fans a safe place to sell tickets they can’t use right up to the event date,” he says. “This ensures as many people as possible can go and, as we all know, packed venues benefit not just performers, and the venues themselves, but also the local economy.

“We support proposals to introduce an industry-wide resale price cap, backed by a strong regulatory regime and enforcement. Ticketmaster welcomes any action to protect fans and support the live industry.”

AXS UK MD Chris Lipscomb stresses that the firm “supports any effort that helps get tickets into the hands of real fans at fair prices”. “To that end, we limit resale in the UK to 10% above price paid,” he notes.

Richard Davies, founder of ethical resale business Twickets, says the company “strongly supports” a cap on resale ticket prices.

“We’ve consistently upheld a strict policy of reselling tickets only at face value plus original booking fee to counteract exploitative practices prevalent in the secondary market,” says Davies. “We see no validity in allowing any mark up on the original price paid by the customer.

“The new legal obligations placed on resale platforms will mean a step toward protecting genuine fans and fostering fairness within the ticketing ecosystem. While inflated resale prices are undeniably problematic, the excessive booking fees charged by secondary platforms compound the issue further.”

“As ever, there are details to be hammered out, but we are right behind the broad thrust”

Jon Collins, CEO of UK trade body LIVE, points out that research carried out for the group by market research agency Opinium showed that just 12% of the 2,000 members of public surveyed opposed the idea of a cap.

“LIVE fully supports government action in this space to remove touts from our sector, end ticket harvesting and see tickets in the hands of genuine fans,” he says. “As ever, there are details to be hammered out, but we are right behind the broad thrust. We are pleased to see government delivering on its manifesto commitment in this area, bringing forward measures which permit responsible and fair fan-to-fan resale, while eliminating third-party profiteering.”

O2, which sells over 1.5 million tickets per year to its customers via Priority Tickets, has been vocal in calling for a 10% price cap on resale. The firm’s Fight for Fairer Ticketing campaign partnered with Bastille singer Dan Smith last week to launch Stamp It Tout – an online hub designed to help fans navigate the ticket resale market safely.

UK watchdog the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) added its backing to a price cap last month. It stopped short of recommending a specific limit, warning of “unintended consequences, such as creating a point of price coordination for sellers”. However, it noted that proceeding with a “no uplift” option on resale would be consistent with existing legislation in Ireland and New South Wales, Australia.

According to CMA analysis, 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.

“The resale price should be capped at the price paid – including booking fee – with a small fixed admin fee”

Face-value European Alliance for Ticketing (FEAT) director Sam Shemtob notes that talk of a UK price cap was mooted as far back as 2011 by Labour MP Sharon Hodgson, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ticket Abuse.

“She’s kept ticket resale as an issue throughout the years of being in opposition, and it’s fantastic that the UK could be close to a historic change in the law in this respect,” says Shemtob. “Our position is in our name – that’s to say the resale price should be capped at the price paid – including booking fee – with a small fixed admin fee chargeable on top for the platform handling the transaction.”

Other plans being considered by the government include limiting 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 also plans to review existing legislation to strengthen consumer protection, including stronger fines and a new licensing regime for resale platforms.

Adam Webb, campaign manager for anti-touting pressure group FanFair Alliance, says the solution should be “simple, palatable and effective”. He also warns of the need to close off “all potential loopholes, and ensure offshore ‘uncapped’ ticket touting websites cannot circumvent the rules”.

“Promisingly, it feels the Competition & Markets Authority are thinking along very similar lines here, and we remain optimistic this consultation will lead to some genuinely positive outcomes,” he finishes.

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Following months of rumours, secondary ticketing marketplace StubHub has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in New York.

The company, which operates as Viagogo outside North America, originally planned to go public last summer with a target valuation of US$16.5 billion only to later postpone the move, reportedly due to unfavourable market conditions.

But it has now pressed ahead with its SEC filing, which sets out its “mission” to be the “global destination for consumers to access live events and experiences”.

“We believe we operate the largest global secondary ticketing marketplace for live events,” reads the prospectus. “Our business model has achieved scale with high growth and generated significant revenue, profit and cash flow. We connect fans around the world with sellers who use our marketplace to reach passionate fans and price tickets efficiently.”

The firm says that buyers from over 200 countries and territories purchased more than 40 million tickets from over 1m sellers on its marketplace in 2024, reporting that its revenue rose 29.5% year-on-year to $1.77 billion. It posted a net loss of $2.8m – attributed to increased costs and expenses – compared to a net profit of $405.2m in 2023 and a net loss of $261m in 2022.

“We believe the international secondary ticketing market represents a $23 billion opportunity over the medium term”

“We believe we are the leader in the $18 billion North American secondary ticketing market based on our GMS [gross merchandise sales] for 2024 as compared to similar metrics of our largest competitors for 2024,” it continues. “We believe the international secondary ticketing market represents a $23 billion opportunity over the medium term as these markets continue to be penetrated by global digital commerce.

“We are also growing in the $132 billion global original issuance market and believe we can help enable the distribution and recovery of approximately $22 billion in unsold tickets through our marketplace.”

Viagogo announced its acquisition of StubHub for US$4.05bn in 2019 in a landmark deal that brought together the world’s two largest secondary ticket sellers, and placed Viagogo founder and CEO Eric Baker back in control of the company he co-founded in 2000.

The sale was approved by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) after Viagogo was forced to sell its international business due to competition concerns.

In its IPO filing, StubHub acknowledges that its business is subject to a “number of risks and uncertainties”.

“Our business depends on supply and demand for and continued occurrence of large-scale sports, concerts, theatre and other live events, and any decrease in the number of such events or the willingness of consumers to attend such events could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations,” says the document.

“This indicates a recovering US IPO market with owners seeing a window of opportunity to go public”

StubHub also notes that “changes in internet search engine algorithms and dynamics, or any limitation or discontinuation of support by such search engines for our paid search results, could have an adverse impact on traffic for our sites and ultimately, our business, financial condition and results of operations”.

Viagogo was banned from advertising on Google globally in July 2019 after the latter came under fire from lawmakers for allegedly accepting advertising money from sites listing tickets fraudulently. The ban was quietly lifted four months later.

The Face-value European Alliance for Ticketing (FEAT) – which is dedicated to the promotion of face-value ticket resale across the continent – has said that it is estimated that Google is responsible for driving two-thirds of traffic to Viagogo.

Meanwhile, the UK government launched a consultation into the secondary ticketing market in January, with measures being considered including a new cap on the price of resale tickets, alongside plans to limit the number of tickets resellers can list to the maximum they are allowed to purchase on the primary market. Various other legislative initiatives relating to resale are also already in place in other territories.

Alluding to the state of play, StubHub notes: “We operate in international markets and are subject to risks associated with the legislative, judicial, accounting, regulatory, political and economic conditions specific to such markets, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.”

Furthermore, it states: “We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. If we fail to remedy these material weaknesses, experience additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to continue to design, implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial condition or results of operations which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and, as a result, the value of our Class A common stock.”

Nevertheless, Josef Schuster, CEO of financial institution IPOX, describes StubHub as “one of the most closely watched IPOs this year”.

“StubHub’s filing follows on the recent filings of other high-profile deals set to go public soon, including CoreWeave and Klarna,” he tells Reuters. “This indicates a recovering US IPO market with owners seeing a window of opportunity to go public.”

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Scour the resale market for Oasis Live ’25 tickets and the chances are you’ll find listings for all 40-plus dates, with two honourable exceptions. Conspicuous by their absence on secondary channels are the Gallagher brothers’ reunion shows at Dublin’s Croke Park on 16th and 17th August. So what’s the story?

“The thing with Ireland is that the legislation is actually really clear,” says Adam Webb, campaign manager for UK-based anti-touting campaign group FanFair Alliance. “So, it doesn’t talk about price caps or face value or any complications, it basically says you can’t resell for profit.”

Introduced in the Emerald Isle in 2021, the Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act prohibits “the sale, or advertising for resale, of tickets for a price exceeding the original sale price for designated events.” Its application is limited to events that “give rise to significant demand” or where it would otherwise be “in the public interest” to ban resale at a price above face value.

Enforcement is a matter for the Garda Síochána (Irish police service). While there have been no reported prosecutions up to this point, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment tells IQ the act has been “very successful.”

“Staff monitor Irish secondary resale platforms on a regular basis,” says a spokesperson for the government department. “Irish secondary resellers of tickets are aware of the legislation, and tickets for events that fall within the scope of the act are no longer offered for sale on these platforms. Promoters and organisers of events that are happening in non-designated venues have been proactive in applying to get their events designated.”

“Overall fraud in Ireland dropped by 25% in the first year of this legislation coming in”

Veteran ticketing and security expert Reg Walker of Iridium Consultancy estimates the act has killed off “95–97%” of ticket touting in the country. But its impact doesn’t end there.

“More interestingly is that, as a direct result, overall fraud in Ireland dropped by 25% in the first year of this legislation coming in,” he notes. “It’s almost eradicated ticket fraud in Ireland.”

A security crackdown – Operation Podium – was successfully carried out in the UK by the Metropolitan Police for the London 2012 Olympic Games, in line with requirements for host cities. Fines for those convicted of touting quadrupled from £5,000 to £20,000.

“There was very clear legislation put in place in respect of the resale of Olympics tickets,” says Walker. “Effectively, it was banned unless you had written authority from either a National Olympic Committee or the International Olympic Committee. But the key part of the legislation was it was supranational, i.e. it was an offence anywhere in the world. So, if you were a UK town and were selling through a website in Argentina, as someone tried to, it was still an offence.

“With the Olympics, the key was simple legislation, outright ban, supranational legislation. The most important fourth spoke in that wheel was enforcement.”

“Here’s the problem – the legislation is summary only, and it stops at the White Cliffs of Dover”

The resale of football tickets without authority in the UK has also been illegal since the 1980s, although Walker points out there is a loophole in that particular law.

“Here’s the problem – the legislation is summary only, and it stops at the White Cliffs of Dover,” he says. “So what you’ve had for years is a number of tout resale sites sitting over in Spain, Cyprus, etc, that harvest tickets in bulk for Premier League football matches, bounce them off these god-awful websites overseas, and it’s actually technically not illegal.”

Industrial-scale online touting has been a scourge for the live music industry in the digital age. Labour MP Sharon Hodgson tabled a private members’ bill in the UK as long ago as 2010, calling for a 10% cap on resale, which failed to get through parliament.

Ed Sheeran’s team went beyond the call of duty in cancelling around 10,000 tickets for the singer’s summer 2018 gigs after Viagogo refused a request from Sheeran’s team not to list the tickets for resale, while Oasis tour promoters Live Nation and SJM have vowed to void up to 50,000 tickets listed on unofficial resale sites for the band’s upcoming tour leg.

The battle has been given renewed impetus amid Labour’s landslide UK general election victory last summer, with prime minister Keir Starmer having pledged to introduce new legislation to cap ticket resale in the party’s manifesto.

“There is no point bringing forward new laws if we cannot enforce them”

Culture minister Chris Bryant also vowed that “change is coming” on secondary ticketing but warned that enforcement was crucial.

“There is no point bringing forward new laws if we cannot enforce them,” he said during a parliamentary debate. “We made manifesto commitments during the general election that we are absolutely determined to implement.”

The government formally launched a consultation into the market in early January. Walker is confident that legislation will materialise but includes a caveat.

“What I’m less confident about is the enforcement,” he remarks. “And the enforcement actually is quite simple, because whilst there’s too many touts for police to go out and [arrest], the choke point is the platforms themselves. It would choke off their ability to dominate Google paid ads and give a false and misleading impression that they were official and the tickets were genuine – or that they even had them – so that would stop overnight. It would deprive them of the oxygen on which they survive.

“I think, personally, as long as the legislation is drafted correctly and supranational, the legislation will work, but the devil is going to be in the detail.”

“You shouldn’t have a middleman, that has nothing invested in the business, make any money from it”

Live Nation boss Michael Rapino also spoke out in favour of regulating the resale market during an interview at a conference in LA in the autumn.

“We would love for resale to be regulated in some sense, cap it at 20%,” he said. “You shouldn’t have a middleman, that has nothing invested in the business, make any money from it.”

US senator Richard Blumenthal recently suggested that current customer protection measures were falling short and called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to “investigate and take strong enforcement action against deceptive and unlawful practices” in the ticketing market.

In an open letter published in December, he demanded vigorous enforcement of the Better Online Ticket Sales Act (BOTS Act). Blumenthal claimed the FTC had only enforced the BOTS Act, which bans ticket bots, once since it was enacted in December 2016.

Meanwhile, the “outrageous” level of touting activity taking place across Europe prompted a small group of concert promoters to unite in the late 2010s to try and do something about it. The gathering morphed into a formal organisation, the Face-value European Alliance for Ticketing (FEAT), which has the key objective of promoting face-value ticket resale.

“In an ideal world, the EU and UK would also share a joined-up approach”

“One of the main problems with ticket touting is that it is an industrial-scale business, operating across countries and regulatory systems at the expense of concertgoers,” reflects FEAT director Sam Shemtob. “In many EU member states, there are no laws on ticket resale beyond Europe-wide consumer rights regulations, which need to be properly enforced if they are to be effective.

“With music tourism flourishing, the rationale for harmonising the law across the EU increases. In an ideal world, the EU and UK would also share a joined-up approach.”

Shemtob describes the EU’s recent Digital Services Act (DSA) as “a step in the right direction,” but notes that it requires promoters to dedicate “time, resources, and legal expertise to first file reports on illegal ticket listings and then escalate them to national regulators.”

“Our recent experience with DSA reporting has left much to be desired,” he sighs. “Some resale platforms have failed to reply to reports addressed to them despite this being their legal obligation.

Meanwhile, the regulators set up to enforce the new digital rules have also been slow to get off the ground, and we are yet to see any investigations into or sanctions against rule-breaking by online ticket resale platforms.”

“The requirement for ticketholders and, above all, resale platforms to obtain approval from the promoter has helped to curb unauthorised reselling”

Shemtob breaks the methods of regulation currently adopted by different countries at a national level into two categories.

“The first is in France and Belgium, which have a ‘promoter-authorised resale’ model,” he says. “French criminal law is clear that tickets can only be resold for an event with authorisation by the event promoter. Fans can usually still resell their tickets, but it must be on a designated marketplace, sometimes with a cap on ticket price. If resellers are not authorised, promoters can legally challenge them.

“Secondary platforms that continue to allow unauthorised traders to list tickets can be held to account by larger-scale action – for example, French live entertainment union Ekhoscènes have successfully challenged Viagogo and Google on several occasions.”

Maxime Lignel of approved Rennes-based resale site Reelax Tickets says the regulations have had a “significant impact” on the French market.

“The requirement for ticketholders and, above all, resale platforms to obtain approval from the promoter has helped to curb unauthorised reselling and has contributed to a more controlled and fair market for consumers,” insists Lignel, “although there are always challenges in ensuring full compliance.”

“The main problem is the lack of control at the doors”

The second model of regulation, meanwhile, is in place in Ireland, as well as Denmark, Italy, Poland, and Portugal.

“These countries have an outright ban on ticket resale above face value, legislation which is easy for consumers and resellers to understand,” notes Shemtob. “Resale platforms operating in these countries have far fewer tickets listed at exorbitant prices, as doing so is in clear contravention of the law.”

Barley Arts founder Claudio Trotta, who has been fighting against the excesses of the market for more than two decades, organised the world-first Negation of Secondary Ticketing conference in 2017. He was later invited to take part in a debate on the issue in the European Parliament.

For-profit secondary ticketing was effectively outlawed in Italy in 2018 with the introduction of the Battelli law, which empowered communications industry regulator AGCOM to go after offenders and even shut down websites that continually break the law. Furthermore, the rules oblige personalised tickets to be checked on entry for all shows over 5,000-capacity, which has not been met with unanimous approval from organisers.

“The main problem is the lack of control at the doors,” stresses Trotta. “With most of Barley’s shows, the amount of secondary ticketing is very, very small. [But] I can’t say the same for many other promoters’ shows, where the controls do not exist at all.”
In Germany, there is no ban on ticket resale. However, promoters can restrict the resale price through the terms and conditions, usually at no more than 25% above face value.

“We have found these bodies are often slow to react or ineffective in policing this market”

A high-profile case saw Rammstein and European promoter MCT Agentur win a further court ruling in Germany in January last year, which compelled resale sites to abide by legal rules in the marketplace. The parties had previously obtained an interim judgement against Viagogo regarding the band’s 2023 European stadium tour. FKP Scorpio also obtained similar injunctions against the company – which acquired StubHub for $4.05bn in 2019, in a deal that brought together the world’s two largest secondary ticket sellers – for Ed Sheeran concerts in 2019 and 2021.

Down Under, almost every individual state and territory in Australia has laws governing the secondary ticketing market.

“In almost all cases, it limits the amount that a ticket can be ‘sold’ or ‘scalped’ to 110% of the original sale price,” explains Jarni Blakkarly, investigative journalist for Australia’s leading consumer advocacy group CHOICE. “By limiting the amount a ticket can be resold [for] to only 10% above what was originally paid for it, fans are meant to be protected from dodgy ticket scalpers, though there are questions as to how well this is working.”

Responsibility for enforcing the legislation falls to each state and territory’s consumer protection or fair-trading body, but Blakkarly questions the level to which that has been carried out.

“We have found these bodies are often slow to react or ineffective in policing this market,” he reports. “We have seen countless examples of these laws being breached and resulting in little to no action from the regulators, who have the power to issue big fines but don’t seem to have the resources or the will to do so.”

“If you take either the touts away or you take Google away, there’s no business”

Six years ago, the Australian Federal Court found that Viagogo misled consumers with obscured fees and claims of ticket scarcity. The ruling – and AU$7m penalty imposed for the breaches of the Australian Consumer Law – was upheld by the full federal court in 2022.

Nevertheless, Blakkarly professes to have seen both international and local ticket reselling websites “consistently and regularly breach the laws with little to no consequences.” And while he says government regulators have a part to play in policing the space, he also calls on the aforementioned Google to up its game.

“There is a role for search engines like Google to make sure that when you search ‘Oasis Sydney tickets’ in the search bar, you are taken to the legitimate official ticket seller and not unwittingly redirected to a reselling site that may overcharge you or leave you scammed,” argues Blakkarly.

Google’s influence on the secondary ticketing market has repeatedly been called into question by campaigners. Viagogo was banned from advertising on the platform globally in July 2019 after the latter came under fire from lawmakers for allegedly accepting advertising money from sites listing tickets fraudulently, but the ban was quietly lifted four months later.

“It’s been a bit of a journey with Google, in that they’ve been receptive at certain points,” said FanFair Alliance’s Webb, speaking at a panel event in London in October. “For three months, Google removed them from their advertising networks, and in that period, their traffic absolutely flatlined… If you take either the touts away or you take Google away, there’s no business.”

“We hope the Digital Fairness Act will further tighten up legislation around ticket resale”

This past autumn, the European Union published the results of its ‘fitness check’ reviewing existing consumer protection legislation across the EU. FEAT, along with other stakeholders in live music and ticketing, responded to the consultation, with 60% of stakeholders agreeing that more needs to be done to prevent ticket touting.

“A Digital Fairness Act consultation is now expected in the spring, led by EU commissioner for consumer protection Michael McGrath,” says Shemtob. “This will pave the way for new legislation that will consolidate and improve digital, tech, and consumer law online. We hope the Digital Fairness Act will further tighten up legislation around ticket resale.”

And as India and the Philippines join the growing list of territories considering touting crackdowns, they would be well-advised to heed the words of CHOICE’s Blakkarly in their discussions.

“Good laws need to be enforced,” he asserts, “otherwise they aren’t doing anyone any good.”

• The ILMC panel Pricing the Ticket: Balancing Expectations will take place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London from 3.15pm to 4.15pm on Wednesday 26 February

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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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Promoters of Oasis’ reunion concerts say they will cancel up to 50,000 tickets listed on unofficial resale sites for the tour’s UK leg.

Live Nation and SJM told BBC Radio 4’s File on 4 the invalidated tickets would be re-listed at face value on Ticketmaster.

Oasis Live ’25 was the biggest concert launch ever seen in UK and Ireland, with over 10 million fans from 158 countries attempting to buy tickets for the 1.4 million tickets available for the group’s first shows since 2009.

Strict anti-touting measures were put in place in a bid to ensure tickets are resold for no more than face value and booking fees, with Twickets selected as the tour’s official ticket resale platform.

“Ticket resale is permitted at no more than the price you paid (face value + booking fees),” read a message on the Oasis website prior to the 31 August on-sale. “Please only use the official resale partners www.twickets.live and Ticketmaster. Selling tickets through unauthorised resale platforms will breach these T&Cs and those tickets may be cancelled.”

The promoters said they would begin the process of voiding tickets deemed to have breached the terms and conditions shortly.

“Fans will be the beneficiaries of this action when any cancelled tickets go back on sale at face value”

“These terms and conditions were successfully put in place to take action against secondary ticketing companies reselling tickets for huge profit,” they say in a statement. “Only 4% of tickets have ended up on resale sites. Some major tours can see up to 20% of tickets appearing via the major unauthorised secondary platforms.

“All parties involved with the tour continue to urge fans not to purchase tickets from unauthorised websites as some of these may be fraudulent and others subject to cancellation.”

Speaking to IQ, FanFair Alliance campaign manager Adam Webb praises the move.

“It’s great to see Oasis take these measures to enforce their T&Cs,” he says. “To be clear, they are not cancelling tickets bought by fans – they are cancelling tickets unlawfully acquired by touts. That’s a very different thing. Some of these tickets might not even have been resold. And obviously fans will be the beneficiaries of this action when any cancelled tickets go back on sale at face value.”

Viagogo’s Matt Drew told File on 4 that “2%” of Oasis tickets had appeared on Viagogo and Stubhub, and indicated the secondary sites would not be deterred from offering them for resale.

“We will continue to sell them in the way the regulator says we can,” he said. “We are serving a clear consumer need, we will continue doing it on that basis.”

“For the upcoming Oasis world tour, the only shows for which tickets are not being touted on Viagogo, StubHub and Gigsberg are the two at Croke Park in Dublin”

In a previous high-profile case, organisers of Ed Sheeran’s 2018 ÷ Tour stadium run cancelled around 10,000 tickets after Viagogo refused a request from Sheeran’s team not to list the tickets for resale. Labour MP Sharon Hodgson referenced the singer during last week’s secondary ticketing hearing in parliament.

“I do not want this debate to end without mentioning Ed Sheeran and how much he has done to try to tackle the scourge of ticket touting,” said Hodgson. “Lots of other artists, such as Iron Maiden, Arctic Monkeys, Mumford & Sons and many others have tried, but Ed Sheeran went above and beyond by cancelling tickets when they had been resold. Taylor Swift never did that because she did not want to break the hearts of all her fans, but Ed Sheeran has been a real warrior in that regard.”

With the new Labour government preparing to launch a consultation into the resale market, Hodgson highlighted the impact of ticketing legislation introduced in Ireland in 2021.

“For the upcoming Oasis world tour, the only shows for which tickets are not being touted on Viagogo, StubHub and Gigsberg are the two at Croke Park in Dublin,” she said.

Cast were this week confirmed as the opening act for Oasis’ 19-date UK and Ireland tour leg, joining previously announced special guest Richard Ashcroft on the bill. The  on-sale became marred by a dynamic ticketing row that triggered multiple inquiries in the UK and Ireland. In the wake of the backlash, the band’s team opted against utilising the pricing strategy for their subsequent North America and Australia sales to “hopefully avoid a repeat of the issues”.

“It is widely accepted that dynamic pricing remains a useful tool to combat ticket touting and keep prices for a significant proportion of fans lower than the market rate and thus more affordable,” they said in a statement. “But, when unprecedented ticket demand (where the entire tour could be sold many times over at the moment tickets go on sale) is combined with technology that cannot cope with that demand, it becomes less effective and can lead to an unacceptable experience for fans.”

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UK culture minister Chris Bryant has vowed that “change is coming” on secondary ticketing during a parliamentary debate.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to introduce new legislation to cap ticket resale as part of the Labour Party manifesto, with the UK government set to launch a consultation into the market imminently.

The subject was discussed at Westminster Hall yesterday (24 October) in a hearing instigated by Labour and Co-operative MP Emma Foody.

“The issue profoundly affects music and sport fans, event-goers and the integrity of our live entertainment industry, but it appears to be inadequately addressed by current regulatory frameworks,” said Foody. “People understand that they will not always get a ticket to the show, gig or game, but they feel a real sense of injustice at the scale of secondary ticketing platforms, with tickets often appearing just moments after people have attempted to purchase them.

“While allowing a space for those tickets to be resold is important, it is also important that that is not to the detriment of consumers.”

“There is no point bringing forward new laws if we cannot enforce them”

Bryant gave an idea of the timescale involved in any legislation, but stressed that a key matter going forward would be enforcement.

“There is no point bringing forward new laws if we cannot enforce them,” he said. “We made manifesto commitments during the general election that we are absolutely determined to implement.

“As for when they will be implemented in legislation, we have had one King’s Speech; there will be another one coming along. I do not want to tell the Leader of the House precisely who will have what Bills at what time, because I might not stay in my post if I keep doing that, but if there is a Bill at some point, we will have to ensure that we sort out the enforcement issue. That is one element on which we will be consulting.

“We want to make sure that every single element of the legislation that we eventually bring forward works, does what it says on the tin and is able to be enforced.”

Bryant said a consultation would be launched “in the very near future”.

“I do not want to completely ban people from selling tickets,” he added. “If someone has bought four tickets but suddenly only two people can go, because somebody is ill or they have to change the dates, it is perfectly legitimate that they should be able to sell the tickets on.

“They might also want to be able to recoup not only the cost of the tickets themselves but some additional costs. That is one of the things we want to consult on, and what would be a suitable cap. I note the point that has been made about a level of 20%, which some people think is too high. Some people think that 10% would be too high; some people think that it would be too low. We need to make sure we get the level right.”

“I want openness in dynamic pricing. People should be able to understand from the very beginning if that is the process they are entering into”

Last month, the government responded to the Oasis reunion tour sale controversy by saying that it would be adding the use of dynamic pricing into the consultation.

“I want openness in dynamic pricing,” he said. “People should be able to understand from the very beginning if that is the process they are entering into.

“There are versions of dynamic pricing that do work, and we do not want to ban those. I would argue that the early-bird tickets… are a perfectly legitimate part of the whole equation. They sometimes bring money into venues early on, and we do not want to ban that.”

Labour MP Sharon Hodgson, who has long campaigned for regulation of the secondary ticketing market, first introduced her private members’ bill on the topic back in 2010. She said the change in government had created a “watershed opportunity to create the change we desperately need”.

“Change is coming, so they should start getting ready for it, because that is what we are determined to deliver”

Recent research by O2 and YouGov indicated that ticket touts are costing music fans in the UK an extra £145 million (€174m) a year. And referencing the successful prosecution of two internet ticket touts for fraudulent trading in 2020, Hodgson noted the resale platforms faced no such sanctions in relation to the case.

“They kept their cumulative 25% service fees from the illegal transactions – if we do the numbers, we see that means millions of pounds – and they continue to profit from further illicit trading,” she said. “Where are all the illegal proceeds of crime? Why have they never been recovered?”

Hodgson added that legislation to outlaw resale for profit or to cap resale prices had worked well in other countries.

“Ireland saw a large drop in fraud after it implemented a version of – guess what? My private members’ bill,” she said. “For the upcoming Oasis world tour, the only shows for which tickets are not being touted on Viagogo, StubHub and Gigsberg are the two at Croke Park in Dublin.

“This is a golden opportunity to ensure that UK audiences receive similar protections and enjoy a capped, consumer-friendly and ethical resale market that works in their interests.”

Bryant concluded: “I say to all the people that I have referred to – Gigsberg, Viagogo, StubHub, Ticketmaster and all the rest – that change is coming, so they should start getting ready for it, because that is what we are determined to deliver.”

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A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in India calling for strict guidelines on the domestic resale market in the wake of ticket sale controversies for concerts by Coldplay and Diljit Dosanjh.

Police are investigating an alleged touting scam relating to Coldplay’s shows in Mumbai in January 2025 after tickets – priced between 2,500 rupees (€27) to 12,000 rupees (€129) – quickly reappeared on secondary ticketing platforms at eye-watering prices of up to 900,000 rupees (€10,000).

It followed a similar row over Punjabi singer’s Diljit Dosanjh’s upcoming concert in the country, whereby tickets sold via Zomato Live popped up on resale platforms at huge mark-ups soon after selling out.

The PIL, which has been lodged at Bombay High Court by lawyer Amit Vyas of Vertices Partners, alleges “several irregularities and illegalities” during the sale of tickets for large events and accuses resellers of violating consumer protection rules.

“The… facts and circumstances serve as a stark reminder of the challenges facing live events in the digital age”

He is requesting authorities create provisional regulations to “prevent ticket scalping, touting and black marketing until specific legislation is enacted”, reports Times of India.

“The… facts and circumstances serve as a stark reminder of the challenges facing live events in the digital age, where the joy of securing tickets to see your favourite artist can quickly turn into a frustrating and potentially costly ordeal,” reads Vyas’ complaint, as per CNBC. “It also highlights the need for a robust system to ensure fair access to tickets and prevent exploitation by ticket scalpers and bots.”

Vyas previously filed a criminal complaint against Indian ticketing giant BookMyShow (BMS) and others, accusing the company of colluding with resale sites to scalp tickets for the three Coldplay gigs – allegations the firm denies.

BMS, which partnered with the band on the shows, has threatened to void tickets sold on the black market and lodged a formal First Information Report (FIR) with Mumbai police urging authorities to investigate “the unauthorised resale of tickets by individuals and platforms”.

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The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) is urging Congress to investigate “deceptive” ticketing practices after discovering thousands of fake tickets already listed for resale for Oasis’ 2025 North American tour.

NIVA says that 9,000 speculative and, in many cases, non-existent tickets for the band’s US and Canada concerts appeared on secondary platforms at prices far above face value ahead of yesterday’s (3 October) presale and today’s general sale.

It is now calling on the Senate Commerce Committee to hold a hearing on predatory ticket practices – including the sale of speculative tickets – upon Congress’ return from recess in November.

“We are sharing examples of speculative and fake tickets from the Oasis shows with Congress because these are among the highest-profile sales that get the public’s and Congress’ attention,” says NIVA executive director Stephen Parker in a letter to Senate committee on commerce, science and transportation chair Maria Cantwell and US senator Ted Cruz.

“The scourge of fake tickets for these shows and so many other lower profile shows deceives consumers and may even lead them to buy flights, hotels, dinners, and more that they can’t recover if they don’t receive the ticket they have purchased or if the ticket they receive does not work.

“The prices for these fake tickets are likely exceedingly higher than the face value of the tickets. We can’t determine the exact markup on the fake tickets given that there are no tickets available for the public to buy, let alone see the price. These price gouged tickets will leave fans with less money to spend on other shows and less money for the food, drink, and merchandise that generate critical revenue for the local communities where these shows happen.”

“We found a significant number of listings with no warning or messages that the tickets were not in the possession of the seller”

The US trade association claims that approximately 4,354 fake tickets for three Oasis shows were listed on StubHub as of the evening of 2 October, with around 3,450 fake tickets listed on Vivid Seats.

“We found a significant number of listings with no warning or messages that the tickets were not in the possession of the seller, including the most expensive tickets across all three nights,” continues Parker. “Even more egregious is messaging on Vivid Seats sharing misinformation with fans that only ‘1% of tickets [are] left’ when again, the official ticket sale has not yet begun.”

IQ has approached StubHub and Vivid Seats for comment.

NIVA, which represents more than 2,000 independent concert venues and related music businesses, is also pressing lawmakers to advance the Fans First Act as part of a comprehensive year-end legislative package to reform ticketing practices in the territory.

Introduced by senators last December, the Fans First Act is designed to help increase transparency in ticket sales, protect customers “from fake or dramatically overpriced tickets,” and hold “bad actors who engage in illegal ticket sale practices” to account.

“What is happening this week with Oasis tickets in the US is alarming, but it pales in comparison to what artists and independent stages see every day”

“What is happening this week with Oasis tickets in the US is alarming, but it pales in comparison to what artists and independent stages see every day from predatory resellers,” adds Parker. “This letter is a defence of consumers and artists everywhere.”

Earlier this week, Oasis announced outdoor shows in the US, Canada and Mexico for next summer – their first gigs in North America since 2008 – supported by special guests Cage The Elephant.

The reunited group went on to confirm four additional shows as part of the tour leg, which is produced by Live Nation and SJM, due to “phenomenal demand”. They will now play Toronto’s new Rogers Stadium (24-25 August), Chicago’s Soldier Field (28 August), MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey (31 August & 1 September), Los Angeles’ Rose Bowl (6-7 September) and GNP Seguros Stadium (12-13 September).

Fans who have purchased tickets and can no longer attend the shows are urged to resell their tickets via the North American tour’s official resale platform Twickets or Ticketmaster Fan-to-Fan in the US and Canada.

Meanwhile, RTE has reported details of almost 100 complaints made to Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) over the handling of the 31 August on-sale for the band’s Dublin concerts, which is being investigated by the watchdog.

The UK & Ireland sale was marred by a controversy over dynamic pricing that has sparked multiple inquiries. A statement from Oasis’ management confirmed the model will not be employed for the US, Canada and Mexico shows.

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The National Independent Talent Organization (NITO) has filed a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), alleging widespread violations of the BOTS Act by ticket resellers.

The advocacy group, whose complaint is backed by dozens of signatories including Red Light Management, Q Prime, Arrival Artists, Ground Control Touring, Mint Talent Group and Paladin Artists, represents the interests of independent music booking agencies and managers in the United States.

Its filing sets out how multiple technology companies provide tools that enable touts to circumvent ticket purchasing limits, including sophisticated browser extensions, proxy services, and virtual credit card platforms designed to bypass security measures implemented by primary ticket sellers.

“NITO requests that the FTC investigate the widespread sale of technology used to violate the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act,” says a letter from NITO addressed to FTC chair Lina Khan. “Our organisation recently attended the World Ticket Conference organised by the National Association of Ticket Brokers (NATB). At this event, we observed a sold-out exhibition hall filled with vendors selling and marketing products designed to bypass security measures for ticket purchases, in direct violation of the BOTS Act.

“Artists, promoters, venues, and primary ticketing systems set ticket purchase limits to increase accessibility and protect fans from large-scale resale for profit, especially for high-demand concerts. The BOTS Act aims to prevent the use of technology that circumvents these ticket purchase restrictions and to protect consumers from price gouging on the secondary market.

“However, despite these efforts, purchase limits are routinely bypassed. Our research shows that for a single concert, thousands of tickets often end up on secondary sites at an average markup of twice the original face value.”

“By implementing these recommendations, rights holders and the FTC can take significant steps towards curbing BOTS Act violations”

It adds that the prevalence of such technologies at major industry events indicates that many ticket brokers may be violating federal law by using these technologies.

“Multiple solutions exist for those seeking to bypass purchase limits, and most were being marketed and sold at the NATB Conference,” NITO continues. “We urge the FTC to investigate the practices and companies detailed.”

The letter was also shared with members of Congress, other Federal and State entities and the trade group’s partners in the Fix The Tix Coalition.

The complaint from NITO president Jack Randall and MD Nathaniel Marro concludes with actionable recommendations for rights holders and the Federal Trade Commission to combat these practices, including increased enforcement, legislative updates, and enhanced cooperation between stakeholders in the ticketing industry.

“By implementing these recommendations, rights holders and the FTC can take significant steps towards curbing BOTS Act violations and ensuring fairer access to event tickets for consumers,” it adds.

Other member companies to back the filing include Magnus Artists, Crossover Touring, Artisan Agency, New Frontier Touring, Ted Kurland Agency and Northstar Artists.

The BOTS Act was signed into law by then US president Barack Obama in 2016.

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