The United Kingdom plans to ban ticket reselling for profit

The U.K. plans to walk 1 of the world’s astir sweeping anti-ticket-scalping measures, banning the resale of music, comedy, theatre and sports tickets for profit.

After an unfastened missive from artists similar Dua Lipa, Coldplay, Sam Fender, Radiohead and the Cure urging Prime Minister Keir Starmer to prohibition the practice, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport volition denote a program to headdress summons resales astatine look worth (with minimal fees).

They estimation the determination could little summons prices by astir £37 ($49), redeeming fans astir £112 cardinal ($147 million) per year. Fans volition inactive beryllium capable to merchantability tickets to shows they can’t attend, conscionable not astatine immoderate meaningful markup.

Ticket prices person been a blistery taxable successful the U.K. aft the long-awaited Oasis reunion circuit highlighted Ticketmaster’s “dynamic pricing” model. While a abstracted contented from reselling, that demand-reactive pricing strategy showed summons costs skyrocketing successful existent clip portion fans waited successful integer lines to bargain them.

For those that missed out, they had fewer different options different than to wage inflated prices connected third-party resale sites similar Viagogo and Stubhub. The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority past opened an probe into Ticketmaster’s adherence to user extortion laws.

U.K. Housing Secretary Steve Reed told the BBC that reselling for nett was “hugely damaging to individuals having to wage done the chemoreceptor for tickets.”

Before the announcement, Ticketmaster’s genitor firm, Live Nation Entertainment, said it already restricts resale prices successful the U.K. to look value. The institution said the connection was “another large measurement guardant for fans.”

In the U.S., the institution precocious established an “all-in” pricing exemplary to beryllium much transparent astir its infamous fees, saying that “The industry-leading inaugural has proven beneficial for some fans and artists, delivering greater transparency for fans portion expanding income for artists and less abandoned carts astatine checkout.”

Live Nation is presently facing a sweeping national antitrust suit successful the U.S., alleging monopolistic practices, pursuing heated Senate hearings the aftermath of Taylor Swift’s Eras circuit on-sale debacle. In March, President Trump issued an enforcement bid “to support fans from exploitative summons scalping and bring commonsense reforms to America’s unrecorded amusement ticketing industry,” and successful September the Federal Trade Commission sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation for allegedly engaging successful amerciable ticketing practices successful its resale business.

“American unrecorded amusement is the champion successful the satellite and should beryllium accessible to each of us,” FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said successful a connection successful September. “It should not outgo an limb and a limb to instrumentality the household to a shot crippled oregon be your favourite musician’s show.”