The Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has published its response to the government’s secondary ticketing proposals.
Music Week has reported on the government’s plans, which could effectively see a ban on online touts by introducing a price cap in the secondary market.
A consultation is continuing until April 4 on the extent of the price cap – from zero to up to 30% of the face value. Ticketmaster and O2 have indicated that they favour a cap at the lower end of this scale.
Today the CMA, the competition regulator in the UK, has issued its response to the proposals and come out in support of a price cap.
“...In the context of the government’s intention to protect consumers from ‘excessive resale pricing’, and its wider objectives for the secondary ticketing market, the CMA supports the government’s proposal for a resale price cap,” stated the CMA response to the government proposals.
In its response, the CMA has not directly indicated a preference for any level of allowable markup, though it noted that such an approach could have “unintended consequences, such as creating a point of price coordination for sellers. More broadly, an allowable markup could maintain incentives to engage in the ticket market for profit.”
A ‘no uplift’ option would align with the approach taken in Ireland and New South Wales.
Despite significant enforcement action, there are remaining issues in the sector that would require legislative change to address
Competition & Markets Authority
The CMA noted that it has taken “extensive action to protect consumers when buying tickets online in the secondary market”, including changes to the practices of the two major uncapped secondary ticketing platforms in the UK – Viagogo and StubHub.
National Trading Standards has also secured criminal convictions against six resellers to date.
"Despite significant enforcement action, there are remaining issues in the sector that would require legislative change to address,” said the CMA in its response today.
The CMA stressed that for a price cap to work it should apply to all resellers and the platforms. It also recommends a licensing regime to be put in place to provide adequate enforcement, as well as monitoring of buyer fees to prevent these from becoming inflated in the wake of any price cap.
“If the risks are not managed, it could undermine the policy intention of a price cap to protect consumers from paying significantly inflated prices for resold tickets,” it stated.
The Labour government pledged to tackle unfair practices for music fans in its manifesto last year.
The CMA estimated that around 1.9 million tickets were sold across online secondary ticketing platforms in 2019. Based on data provided to the CMA from all the main secondary ticketing platforms at that time, the value on secondary tickets sold in 2019 through online ticketing platforms was around £350 million.
PHOTO: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds at Cardiff Castle in 2024 (Mike Lewis Photography/Redferns/Getty Images)
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