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Sports minister challenges industry to tackle ticket touting

DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT News Release (019/09) issued by COI News Distribution Service. 19 February 2009

The ticketing and events industries need to improve the service they offer to fans and cut down significantly on the number of tickets being sold to touts, Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said today.

The Government is proposing a package of measures designed to help consumers and wants to see much more use of innovative approaches that have successfully prevented touts from buying up tickets for high profile events.

Gerry Sutcliffe said:

"Real efforts are being made by some event organisers to thwart the touts and ensure that as many tickets as possible go straight to real fans. But most of the time tickets go to whoever is quickest online on the day they go on sale - and too much of the time that is touts who simply want to resell at a profit. The industry now needs to quickly build on these successful new approaches and ensure they become much more widespread.

"An honest and transparent resale market can be beneficial; it provides fans with an opportunity to buy tickets for sold-out events or sell tickets they can no longer use."

In a cross-Government approach, designed to tackle the problems associated with ticket touting, the Government is today publishing:

* a consultation which seeks to find consensus on how best to improve the ticketing market for the benefit of consumers; and

* new advice from Consumer Direct with tips on how to safely shop for tickets online.

Ticket fraud is illegal and there are already measures in place to protect consumers from unfair practices, with recent enforcement action by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) detailed below.

The consultation, published today, seeks views on whether STAR (The Society for Ticket Agents and Retailers) could act as a beacon of good practice, where the display of the STAR logo would ensure customers were buying from reputable sellers.

STAR members could cooperate to ensure that sales of tickets for events considered to be of outstanding national significance would be rigorously enforced. In this way expensive resale of such tickets would be drastically reduced.

At the same time the Government wants to hear from consumers, events organisers and ticket sellers about the success of innovative ways of preventing tickets being sold in large numbers to touts. These might include individual names printed on tickets, the use of matching ID to gain access to venues or the replacement of paper tickets altogether. Some recent examples of successful measures are detailed at Annex A.

A further measure proposed today is to ask more football clubs to adopt official exchange arrangements for fans who want to sell tickets they can no longer use. Under current public order legislation, unofficial resale of football tickets is illegal, but official, club-sanctioned exchange systems are allowed.

Gerry Sutcliffe said:

"There is no great appetite for further legislation in the ticketing market, whether from fans, event organisers or the ticket sellers themselves. But we need to see some rapid improvements: more exchange arrangements for football fans and a new deal for everyone looking to buy tickets and frustrated by the actions of ticket touts. We cannot rule out the possibility of legislation if consumers continue to be disappointed by the ticketing market."

Notes to editors

1. The Consultation on Ticketing and Ticket Touting runs for 12 weeks until 15 May 2009 and can be found at http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/consultations/5884.aspx

2. Key issues that the consultation is seeking views on include:

* whether the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR) is an appropriate body for overseeing a voluntary code of principles to which its members must adhere, ensuring a high level of consumer protection; and

* proposals for a voluntary agreement that tickets for certain 'crown jewel' events will not be sold on the secondary market. This will be similar, but not necessarily, identical to the list of sporting events that must be available to free to air television, and could include sporting world cups and other high profile events.

3. Ticket touting is a joint issue between the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). BERR deals with illegal and unfair commercial practices, DCMS deals with the functioning of the rest of the market.

The Government is doing all it can to put the worst offenders out of business.

BERR's Companies Investigations Branch and local authority Trading Standards teams lead investigations into ticket touting.

Anyone who feels they have been a victim of fraud or misleading sales should contact their local Trading Standards team or Companies Investigations Branch.

ACTION AGAINST ILLEGAL TOUTS
In March 2008 four ticket touting companies operating online were wound up following an investigation by Companies Investigation Branch (CIB) of the Insolvency Service.

The investigation found that tickets were sold through londonticketshop.co.uk and londonticketmarket.com for concerts, festivals and sports events. In some cases the tickets did not exist.

In November 2008 four addresses in London were searched by Serious Fraud Office Investigators and arrests were made following an investigation into complaints about the failure by Xclusive Tickets Ltd and Xclusive Leisure & Hospitality Limited to supply at least 4,000 tickets for events such as the Beijing Olympics and music festivals in the UK. They were arrested, interviewed and released on unconditional bail. The case was opened following complaints from the public and was referred to the SFO from BERR.

4. Ticket fraud is illegal and there are already measures in place to protect consumers from unfair practices.

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which came into force on 26 May 2008, bans traders from engaging in unfair commercial practices against consumers. The Regulations apply across all business sectors and set out a framework for how businesses must deal with consumers.

Annex A - EXAMPLES OF ANTI-TOUTING MEASURES

Leeds, Reading and Latitude festival promoter Festival Republic is this year warning fans to beware of unauthorised ticket agencies and only buy tickets from agencies that it names on its website or from its website directly. The information is prominently displayed on the homepage of each of its festivals' websites, with links to more detailed information about avoiding touts and scams. They also provide a long list of unauthorised sites they recommend avoiding.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has introduced a raft of measures to combat touting for the forthcoming ICC World Twenty20, England 2009. These include printing the name of the buyer on every ticket, with spot checks planned on match days. Tickets will not be dispatched until three or four weeks before the event to reduce opportunities for resale. Sales teams have already identified buyers who have deliberately broken the ticket rules by setting up multiple accounts using the same personal data e.g. address, email and credit card. This process has led to over 3,000 tickets being cancelled with registrants from both the UK and Eastern Europe attempting to buy over 40 tickets for the same match-day. Ticket resale is allowed only by registering with the ECB.

Wimbledon tickets have been oversubscribed for many years and the AELTA operates a public ballot for tickets each year, backed up by the following anti-touting measures: all Wimbledon tickets, apart from Debentures Holders that are clearly marked, will only be valid if sold either by The All England Lawn Tennis Club or by one of its licensed and authorised agents. Unauthorised sale or transfer of tickets immediately invalidates them. The Club takes active steps to monitor and control sales including those made via shops and more recently, internet sites. Sellers of non-Debenture tickets are contacted and injunctions taken out against those who do not cooperate and act contrary to the Club's ticket policy. Where the details of tickets being advertised for sale are known, the tickets are cancelled meaning that the purchasers will not gain entry to The Championships.

Singer Tom Waits introduced anti-touting measures for last year's Edinburgh and Dublin shows. All tickets were printed with the name of the buyer, and everyone attending the shows had to produce a matching passport or driving licence, with all tickets scanned to verify authenticity.

Tickets for Led Zeppelin's reunion concert at the O2 were allocated by web ballot, with a maximum of two per person. More than a million people registered interest in the 18,000 available tickets. Ticket holders had to bring with them ID and the credit card they used to book tickets, and were given a wrist band at the venue which was void if tampered with. Although some tickets were offered for sale on the secondary market, event organisers warned those tempted to pay inflated prices that they risked losing their money and not gaining access to the venue.

Annex B

Consumer Direct has today published the following advice on avoiding pitfalls when shopping for tickets:

* Consider buying through the box office or primary ticket agents - these are the official agents who have agreements with promoters or venues to sell tickets for events.

* Before you buy, make sure you have information about the face value of the tickets, how much you will pay in additional fees, including booking fees, transaction charges and postage, where the seat is, and whether it has a restricted view.

* Read the terms and conditions so that you understand how you are going to receive the tickets, what will happen if they don't arrive, and what will happen if the event is cancelled, changed or you have to cancel.

* If you are buying from secondary agents, who purchase tickets for resale to consumers, be aware that prices can be at a premium when demand is high so it can be worth shopping around. Again make sure you know the face value, seat location and any additional fees.

* Beware of fraudulent online ticket sites and don't be fooled by a site which looks professional. Also beware of sellers who make promises that sound too good to be true - such as being able to sell cheap tickets for sold out events or offering tickets before they are officially on sale. Look at internet forums to see if others have had bad experiences and check the company's geographic address and contact numbers.

* Be aware of the risks of buying tickets through internet auctions and from street touts.

* When booking online check that the payment pages are secure by looking for a padlock symbol or making sure the website address begins with an https prefix.

* If you are buying tickets costing over £100, consider using a credit card for additional protection.

Further advice is available from Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 or by visiting the website at http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk

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