NZ Rugby calls national meeting to tackle resale issues

New Zealand Rugby has called a national meeting with the sports and entertainment industry to discuss ways to tackle ticket touting.

The meeting, which will be held on August 15 at AJ Park’s offices in Auckland, is looking to bring organisations together that are concerned about the current state of the resale market in New Zealand.

The invite reads: “The meeting is designed to bring together a number of organisations who are affected by the actions of ticket resellers such as Viagogo, to share some of our learnings and identify steps we can collectively take to address this issue.”

Last year, it was reported that Viagogo is the most complained about website in New Zealand according to data released by the country’s competition enforcement and regulatory agency.

The ticketing agent was the subject of 57 complaints to the New Zealand Commerce Commission (NZCC) during 2016-17.

In addition, Claire Turnham, the founder of Victim of Viagogo campaign group, will speak at the meeting to provide attendees with insights into her experience with the secondary market.

“Claire has done an amazing job running a very effective campaign, in conjunction with Ed Sheeran’s promoters, tackling ticket reselling head-on and has successfully helped to secure over $1.5m in refunds,” the invite from NZ Rugby reads. “Claire has kindly offered to share her experiences with us.”