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Online ticket reseller Vivid Seats is reportedly fielding acquisition offers from several private equity firms hoping to take the company private.
The Chicago-based company, which competes with SeatGeek and StubHub, has enlisted an advisory firm to help gauge interest in a potential sale, according to Bloomberg.
The news sent Vivid Seats’ stock surging 20% on 30 December, marking its largest single-day gain since going public. The hike brought the company’s market capitalisation to USD $943 million. As of Friday (3 January), Vivid Seats’ market cap stood at $955 million.
However, the company’s shares have faced considerable pressure over the past year, declining by 40% before this recent uptick.
In the third quarter of 2024, Vivid Seats’ net income plunged 43% to $9.2 million from $16 million the prior year. Revenue inched down 1% YoY to $186.6 million from $188.1 million.
The news sent Vivid Seats’ stock surging 20% on 30 December, marking its largest single-day gain since going public
CEO Stan Chia in November said, “Demand remained robust in the third quarter, although we experienced a headwind from concert supply, including from venue and artist mix, that we believe to be temporary.”
Vivid Seats was launched in 2001 by Jerry Bednyak and Eric Vassilatos as a competitor to resale platform StubHub and later Seat Geek – both of which have been sizing up a potential initial public offering.
In 2017, private equity firm GTCR acquired a majority stake in Vivid Seats. A year later, Bednyak and Vassilatos left the company and went on to launch venture group Skybox Capital.
In 2021, the company went public via a merger with Horizon Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). That transaction valued Vivid Seats at approximately $1.95 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Vivid Seats’ current ownership includes a substantial stake held by Eldridge Industries, led by Todd Boehly, which controls roughly 41% of the company’s Class A shares. GTCR also maintains a minority position in the business.
IQ has reached out to Vivid Seats for comment.
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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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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 attorney general for the District of Columbia (DC) in the US has filed a lawsuit against StubHub, accusing the resale platform of “deceptive” pricing and hidden fees.
Brian L. Schwalb alleges the American ticket exchange and resale platform hides mandatory fees from customers until the end of a lengthy purchase process, and then fails to provide clear and accurate information about the purpose of those fees or how they are calculated.
Furthermore, he claims the “deceptive and unfair practices” interfere with consumers’ ability to comparison shop and “otherwise make informed decisions about their ticket purchases”, in violation of the District’s consumer protection laws.
“For years, StubHub has illegally deceived District consumers through its convoluted junk fee scheme,” says Schwalb. “StubHub lures consumers in by advertising a deceptively low price, forces them through a burdensome purchase process, and then finally reveals a total on the checkout page that is vastly higher than the originally advertised ticket price.
“This is no accident – StubHub intentionally hides the true price to boost profits at its customers’ expense. The District is home to one of the nation’s largest and most vibrant live entertainment scenes, and StubHub’s predatory tactics disproportionately harm District residents. That is why we’re suing to end StubHub’s exploitative pricing scheme.”
“We are disappointed that the DC Attorney General is targeting StubHub when our user experience is consistent with the law”
StubHub released a statement in response, saying it was “disappointed” at being targeted by the attorney general, and declared its support for all-in pricing.
“StubHub is committed to creating a transparent, secure, and competitive marketplace to benefit consumers,” it says. “We are disappointed that the DC attorney general is targeting StubHub when our user experience is consistent with the law, our competitors’ practices, and the broader e-commerce sector. We strongly support federal and state solutions that enhance existing laws to empower consumers, such as requiring all-in pricing uniformly across platforms.”
It was recently reported that StubHub had delayed its plans for a summer IPO. Previously, it was indicated it was planning to go public this summer if it was able to achieve a valuation of around US$16.5 billion (€15.1bn).
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. It offloaded its StubHub business outside of North America to investment firm Digital Fuel Capital LLC for an undisclosed sum in 2021.
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Secondary ticketing company StubHub has reportedly pushed back its plans for a summer IPO.
It was previously indicated the American ticket exchange and resale platform was planning to go public this summer if it was able to achieve a valuation of around US$16.5 billion (€15.1bn).
But according to CNBC, the firm has now pushed back its plans until after 2 September’s Labor Day in the US. Citing a source familiar with the deal, the news channel lists stagnant market conditions and the lack of major consumer IPOs in recent months as contributing factors in the decision.
StubHub, which declined to comment on the report, is understood to have been working with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs on the IPO over the past two years.
Ticket platform SeatGeek has also reportedly been sizing up a potential initial public offering this year
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. It offloaded its StubHub business outside of North America to investment firm Digital Fuel Capital LLC for an undisclosed sum in 2021.
Ticket platform SeatGeek has also reportedly been sizing up a potential initial public offering this year, while publicly traded competitors Vivid Seats and Live Nation are valued at $1.5bn and $22.8bn, respectively.
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Ticket touts hatched secret plans to sabotage Labour’s bid to cap ticket resale if the party wins the next UK general election, according to a new report.
Footage filmed by the Guardian shows touts and representatives of secondary ticketing platforms such as Viagogo, StubHub and Vivid Seats discussing the proposals at a private event in London, organised by US-based lobby group the Coalition for Ticket Fairness (CTF) and sponsored by Swiss marketplace Gigsberg. Guests paid $240 (€222) each to be in attendance.
At the gathering, touts reportedly pledged £73,000 to hire a “bulletproof” political lobbyist to target MPs after CTF UK president Tony McGowen told guests they could help “guide parliament and to fight back against all the bullshit that a Labour government potentially want to throw at us”.
“We are going to fight parliament, we’re going to fight government,” he said, “because if we don’t, bottom line is we are all fucked.”
Jason Berger of CTF US added: “It takes a long time to change a law. It’s a lot easier to … stop the law from being written.”
“A Labour government will cap resale prices so fans can see the acts that they love at a fair price”
The event took place in the wake of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s recent vow to restrict the resale of tickets at more than a small, set percentage above face value should his party triumph at July’s general election.
The proposed legislation would also limit the number of tickets individual resellers can list and make platforms accountable for the accuracy of information about tickets they list. In addition, it would ensure watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has the powers to take action against platforms and touts to protect consumers.
“We can’t let access to culture be at the mercy of ticket touts who drive up the prices,” Sir Keir told the Labour Creatives Conference in March. “So a Labour government will cap resale prices so fans can see the acts that they love at a fair price.”
The lobbyist whom the CTF said it had selected told the Guardian they had met with the group over a year ago but would never agree to work for it.
In a statement to the newspaper, the CTF said it was “not currently engaged in any lobbying activities in the UK” and has “no timeline to begin doing so”.
“CTF believes that measures to restrict access to ticketing will create a black market with more transactions driven underground”
“We have not engaged professional support in the manner described and we have no agreement to do so,” it continued. “Like any industry preparing for a potential change in a regulatory environment, we are taking preparatory action which includes bringing the industry together to share insights.
“CTF believes that measures to restrict access to ticketing will create a black market with more transactions driven underground, removing customer security; reduce the availability of tickets to fans; and create further monopolies for vested interests which will see prices driven up for fans.”
A Viagogo spokesperson told the Guardian that two of its executives attended the event for “networking reasons” and said the Swiss-headquartered firm was not funding the CTF. StubHub International and Vivid Seats did not comment, but the latter company is expected to launch in the UK shortly, having incorporated back in March.
A 2022 investigation by ITV News, based on research carried out by campaign group FanFair Alliance (FFA), found that three people were responsible for over two-thirds of UK festival and outdoor event tickets listed by resale platform Viagogo.
Rules to outlaw ticket touting have been adopted in a number of other countries. However, the Conservative government recently rejected fresh legislation that would impact the UK secondary ticketing market. The amendments to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill called for requirements to be imposed on resale platforms regarding “proof of purchase, ticket number limits and the provision of information, with the aim of reducing fraud”.
“I have quite happily used Viagogo on many occasions, as other people have when reselling tickets”
Business minister Kevin Hollinrake said: “We believe those provisions are already there,” and admitted to using Viagogo himself in the past.
“I have quite happily used Viagogo on many occasions, as other people have when reselling tickets,” said the Conservative MP. “Of course we will keep looking at the primary and secondary markets, and at the interaction between the two, so that we can develop the right way to regulate the market, in a future parliament.”
The suggested requirements for resale sites were in line with the recommendations made in a 2021 report by the CMA to tighten laws around online ticket touting, which were rejected by the UK government in May last year, with then business secretary Hollinrake saying he was “not convinced” by the need for additional legislative changes.
Earlier this month meanwhile, four people were jailed for using fraudulent tactics to purchase and resell hundreds of tickets at hugely inflated prices for events and concerts such as Ed Sheeran and Lady Gaga. The defendants ran multi-million-pound limited company TQ Tickets, which they used to purchase hundreds of tickets for events and concerts by the likes of Gary Barlow, Liam Gallagher, Paul Weller and Little Mix.
The trial heard the firm sold tickets worth more than £6.5 million (€7.6m) over the course of two-and-a-half years.
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Ticket resale platform StubHub is reportedly planning to go public this summer if it can achieve a valuation of around US$16.5 billion (€15.5bn).
The Information, which broke the news, cites sources close to StubHub, but says the company may call off the offering if it is unable to approach its $16.5bn target – in line with what it was valued at during its 2021 round of private funding.
The American firm, which is understood to have been working with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs on the IPO over the past two years, is said to have debts of more than $2bn. It was previously rumoured to be going public via a direct listing in 2022.
StubHub, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs have all declined to comment on the timing of the offering.
CNBC notes that ticket platform SeatGeek has also reportedly been sizing up a potential IPO this year, while publicly traded competitors Vivid Seats and Live Nation are valued at $1.2bn and close to $24bn, respectively, according to FactSet.
Viagogo announced its $4bn acquisition of StubHub in 2019
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. It offloaded its StubHub business outside of North America to investment firm Digital Fuel Capital LLC for an undisclosed sum in 2021.
Viagogo has also been back in the news this week, with the Swiss-headquartered firm’s global MD Cris Miller speaking out against Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s pledge to introduce new legislation to cap ticket resale in the UK if the party wins the next general election.
Measures would include restricting the resale of tickets at more than a small, set percentage above face value, and limiting the number of tickets individual resellers can list. But Miller claimed that while the move is “well-intentioned”, “price caps just don’t work”.
“What happens with price caps is that the highest-demand part of the market, where you might see prices go above the original price, will just get driven underground,” he told the Guardian.
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Campaigners are celebrating tomorrow’s implementation of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which brings with it major implications for the online secondary ticketing market.
From 17 February, the DSA will apply to all platforms, including Viagogo and Stubhub, which will be required to identify and verify professional sellers, and will be prohibited from using manipulative sales tactics.
The legislation will also introduce annual reports on content take-downs that should help reveal the scale of illegal activity – data on which enforcement agencies and search engines will be compelled to take action.
The new regulations, designed to create a safer digital environment, include key provisions lobbied for over two years by the Face-value European Alliance for Ticketing (FEAT) on behalf of Europe’s live entertainment sector. As a result of FEAT’s efforts, online resale marketplaces will now be subject to stricter due diligence and reporting requirements, improving transparency for buyers.
Ticket resale sites will be banned from using design tricks that manipulate consumers into decisions
Measures affecting ticket resale marketplaces include:
Identifying and verifying professional sellers: online marketplaces will be required to obtain essential information about third party professional sellers, such as name, contact details and ID, before traders can list tickets on the platform. They will also be required to ensure that the seller’s name, contact and trading details appear on the listing.
Prohibition of dark patterns: ticket resale sites will be banned from using design tricks that manipulate consumers into decisions, such as “pop-ups” or giving prominence to specific choices.
Annual reporting: ticket resale sites will be required to produce easily comprehensible and publicly-available annual reports on takedowns of ticket listings.This will give an indication of the scale of harmful activity taking place.
Increased accountability for marketplaces: Resale platforms will be required to make it clear throughout the buying process that the tickets listed are provided by a third party. If a platform fails to do this and fans are led to believe that the tickets are provided by the platform itself, the platform can be held responsible for any tickets listed in contravention of national laws.
Increased oversight: Every Member State is in the process of appointing a Digital Services Coordinator (DSC) to enforce the rules laid out in the DSA, with far-reaching powers of investigation. DSCs will have the ability to sanction platforms that do not comply with these new regulations, and consumers will be able to notify DSCs of any illegal listings through a simple flagging procedure.
“Our priority now is to ensure that the new rules are enforced, with a clear process for removing illegal ticket listings”
FEAT is now engaged in working with European member states’ newly-appointed Digital Services Coordinators (DSCs) to ensure effective enforcement of the new legislation. This includes establishing a clear process for reporting and taking down ticket listings that contradict member state or EU law.
FEAT Director Sam Shemtob says, “This is a landmark moment for Europe’s live events sector. Our priority now is to ensure that the new rules are enforced, with a clear process for removing illegal ticket listings as and when they appear. FEAT is looking forward to working with DSCs across the Member States to make this happen and lay the groundwork for a fairer, more transparent ticket-buying experience for consumers on the secondary market.”
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Rammstein and European promoter MCT Agentur have won a further court ruling in Germany, compelling resale sites to abide by legal rules in the marketplace.
CTS Eventim is the exclusive authorised ticket provider for the rock band’s German shows, with tickets permitted to be resold only via its fanSALE platform, which caps prices at 10% above face value.
The group and MCT previously obtained an interim injunction against Viagogo regarding the band’s 2023 European stadium tour. Although the ruling was contested by the platform, it has since been upheld by the Hamburg Regional Court.
The judgement was delivered last month, and obliges Viagogo to comply with the relevant legal rules “when distributing all concert tickets in Germany”. The company was also fined €20,000 by the court, along with an additional €250 per day if it fails to pay up. The court adds that Viagogo appears to have “not taken any notice of the preliminary injunction” so far.
The case marked the second time the Hamburg Regional Court had legally prohibited the Switzerland-headquartered company from reselling Rammstein tickets, following an identical injunction in 2019.
The most recent court order, which is not yet legally binding, is based on consumer protection regulations that were newly defined in May 2022. Rammstein and MCT also obtained interim injunctions against secondary ticketing companies StubHub and Gigsberg in November 2023.
“All decisions confirm the opinion of Rammstein and the MCT Agency”
“All decisions confirm the opinion of Rammstein and the MCT Agency, the tour promoter of the European shows, that Viagogo AG, StubHub, Inc. and Gigsberg Services OÜ are violating consumer protection regulations,” says a statement from Berlin-based MCT.
Rammstein are celebrating their 30th anniversary with a 2024 European stadium tour, launching in Prague, Czechia on 11 May and wrapping up with five nights at Gelsenkirchen’s Veltins-Arena in the group’s native Germany from 26-31 July. Ticket prices for the German gigs range between €70-131.
In an effort to clamp down on the excesses of the resale market, tickets for the concerts will have the full name of the buyer printed on them. The ticket holder will be required to present their ID to gain access entry to the stadium, along with the rest of their party.
“There are strict entry controls at all concerts,” stresses MCT. “If a ticket is not personalised to the person requesting entry, they will not be allowed entry. Any returns of tickets (e.g. due to prevention, illness, etc.) in accordance with the general terms and conditions of the tour operator MCT Agency can only be processed via the CTS Eventim platform ‘fanSALE’.
“All other providers who offer Rammstein tickets are unauthorised dealers. Rammstein tickets purchased there do not entitle you to enter a show. This applies in particular to all Rammstein tickets that are offered through providers of the so-called secondary ticket market.”
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Some of the UK’s leading music companies have joined a fresh campaign against industrial-scale online ticket touting.
Led by FanFair Alliance, the campaign is urging MPs to introduce new legislation to “protect British consumers from unscrupulous and exploitative traders who operate on controversial websites such as Viagogo and StubHub”.
WME, CAA, ATC, 13 Artists, Kilimanjaro, FKP Scorpio and One Fiinix are among the parties to back FanFair Alliance’s three pro-consumer measures regarding legislative action, tech action and industry action.
The first proposed measure is new laws making it illegal to resell a ticket for profit, bringing the UK into line with countries such as Ireland, France, Australia and Italy, which have introduced legislation to ban or restrict resale for more than face value.
The second calls for platforms like Google and YouTube to stop promoting touts, and help direct consumers towards legitimate sources of tickets. And the final point rallies the live music business to make capped consumer-friendly ticket resale visible and viable.
“We’ve seen many other countries adopt strict anti-touting legislation. It is high time that the UK caught up”
The fresh campaign comes a few months after the Department of Business & Trade rejected a series of recommendations aimed at strengthening existing laws around ticket resale in order to protect consumers, published by the Competition & Markets Authority.
But on Monday (11 September), at a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ticket Abuse in the House of Commons, the music industry seized on the opportunity presented by the next election to call for a “reset” in how politicians, regulators and the music business look to tackle ongoing problems in this market.
“Over the course of the next year there will be a general election in the UK, the outcome of which will define the music industry for the rest of the decade,” said Tom Kiehl, the interim chief executive of UK Music, an industry body.
“It is vital as we approach this pivotal moment that policymakers secure a fair deal for music lovers by ending rip-off secondary ticketing practices.”
Adam Webb, campaign manager, FanFair Alliance adds: “When the FanFair campaign was established in 2016, online ticket touting in the UK was out of control. There was little enforcement of consumer law, and fans were systematically misled and ripped off by the dominant secondary ticketing platforms. Despite substantial progress to improve this situation it is now clear we need a reset. We need fresh legislation and fresh thinking – ending once and for all the parasitical practices of online ticket touts, while doing more to proactively promote capped consumer-friendly ticket resale. The UK is rightly proud of its live music culture, and this is an area we should and could be leading the world.”
Sharon Hodgson MP, chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ticket Abuse, comments: “Since I introduced a Private Members Bill in 2010 that attempted to outlaw the resale of tickets for profit, we’ve seen many other countries adopt strict anti-touting legislation. It is high time that the UK caught up. Every week we continue to see thousands of ticket buyers fall foul of predatory and unlawful practices in the secondary market. I wholeheartedly support FanFair Alliance’s three common sense goals which would provide audiences with far greater protections, while helping to boost one of our country’s most important cultural industries.”
Companies and individuals backing FanFair Alliance’s three pro-consumer measures include:
13 Artists
John Rostron, Association of Independent Festivals
Alex Bruford, ATC Live
Brian Message, ATC Management
CAA Music
Paul Crockford, Crockford Management
Stephen Taverner, East City Management
Adam Tudhope, Everybody’s Management
David Martin, CEO, Featured Artists Coalition
Daniel Ealam, FKP Scorpio
Stuart Camp, Grumpy Old Management
Harvey Goldsmith
Alec Mckinlay & Marcus Russell, Ignition Management
Sybil Bell, Independent Venue Week
Richard Jones, Key Music Management
Stuart Galbraith, Kilimanjaro Live
Harry Magee, Modest! Management
Mark Bent & Natasha Gregory, Mother Artists
Annabella Coldrick, Chief Executive, Music Managers Forum
Music Venue Trust
Paul Craig, Nostromo Management
Jon Ollier, One Fiinix
Phantom Music Management
Angus Baskerville & Hayley Morrison, Pure Represents
Tom Kiehl, Interim CEO, UK Music
Gareth Griffiths, Director Partnerships and Sponsorship at Virgin Media O2
Ian McAndrew, Wildlife Entertainment
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