UK resale legislation could be introduced next year, Labour ticketing campaigner says

The UK could see legislation designed to restrict the resale of tickets introduced next year, according to the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ticket Abuse.

The Labour Party ran on a manifesto that included a pledge to act over concerns about resale, and particularly the role of online marketplaces, bots and scalpers. While the Labour Government did not introduce anti-touting legislation in its programme for this year, Sharon Hodgson MP expects it to make the King’s Speech in 2025.

Hodgson was speaking in a panel discussion entitled ‘The Fight for Fairer Ticketing’ in London along with representatives from the live sector.

FanFair Alliance’s Adam Webb said the UK can build on anti-touting legislation introduced in other jurisdictions to develop market-leading new rules designed to improve fairness within ticket sales. Webb said the new UK Government can pick the best parts of resale legislation already introduced in nations such as Australia, France and Ireland.

That sentiment was backed by Hodgson, who wants the UK to follow Ireland’s restriction on resale pricing. Ireland’s laws limit resale to 10% above face value.

However, Hodgson is concerned that legislation is only useful if it is implemented. She noted that despite pre-existing legislation, there has so far been no prosecution for the illegal use of ticket bots stretching back to Operation Podium for the 2012 Olympic Games.

‘Parasitical economy’

Hodgson argued that ‘social justice’ demanded that the contract between artist and their audience was paramount, and the artist, with their management and promoter, set the ticket prices and that is what the audience should pay. She argued that uncapped secondary was a parasitical economy, giving nothing back to the artist, and that higher and higher prices for some favourite artists led to less money for other events.

Also on the panel was Gareth Griffiths, director of partnerships and sponsorship at Virgin Media O2. He warned that primary ticket prices will rise as the margins for artists, promoters and venues are incredibly tight at present.

He also expanded on a recent study which found that O2 stopped more than 50,000 suspected bots from entering its Priority platform during a six-week period in 2023. The company has called on the government for better legislation against the resale of concert tickets for significant profits, with O2’s research demonstrating that 63% of music fans have attended live events believing there should be rules in place around ticket resale.