As Toronto continues its ‘Love Story’ with Taylor Swift and the Eras Tour, set to move subsequent week to British Columbia, some are urging motion over allegations of price-gouging by resellers and ticketing practices which have left some followers with ‘Unhealthy Blood.’
On websites like StubHub, a single ticket for Taylor Swift’s Friday live performance in Toronto is at minimal $4,654, whereas on SeatGeek it’s $4,500 for the 500-level seats.
Some have been priced as excessive as $33,000.
That’s not together with Ticketmaster the place you want a fan code to get one of many tickets made not too long ago out there for the same-day present. However these costs are why politicians like NDP MP Brian Masse are calling for motion by governments to forestall future concert-goers from dealing with sky-high costs.
“Going to a live performance or an occasion is typically a particular second for household and mates and folks even save for months to have the ability to go after which to have it ripped out of your potential to get there due to the sort of construction is simply not truthful,” Masse stated in an interview.
A petition has additionally been launched federally this week, backed by Inexperienced MP Mike Morris, calling on the federal authorities to look at different international locations’ associated laws round banning ticket resales above face-value and a cap on how excessive they are often resold.
That petition requires a “affordable bundle of measures” to lower the quantity of listings of tickets being resold for revenue, whereas regulating market practices corresponding to the usage of “misleading web sites and speculative ticket listings.”
It’s not simply Taylor Swift tickets being resold or restricted, both.
Allegations of restricted entry or value gouging by both the assorted ticketing corporations or resellers has been a typical observe for years, with tickets for music concert events, comedy reveals and sports activities video games skyrocketing.
A giant problem in Canada, in line with enterprise and regulation affiliate professor Daniel Tsai, is that Ticketmaster and its father or mother firm LiveNation “management” the first marketplace for ticket gross sales, whereas additionally having some management over the resale market as nicely.
“There may be lack of rules and no competitors that’s allowed one large dominant pressure, LiveNation Ticketmaster, to manage the live performance and leisure and sporting ticket trade,” Tsai stated.
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He added surge pricing, when tickets go in excessive demand, means Canadians and different patrons are left “paying a fortune” both for the unique tickets or on the resale market.
In a letter to Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, Masse referred to as on the federal authorities to launch an investigation into Ticketmaster and the ticketing trade and take “fast motion” to crack down on scalper bots and resellers by working with the provinces and territories to make sure a “common” change.
Among the many modifications he’d prefer to see can be restricted resale capabilities for particular occasions, and a restricted markup on tickets managed much like what’s seen in different international locations.
In keeping with the Face-Worth European Alliance for Ticketing, which advocates for tickets to be resold for not more than their unique value, locations like Portugal and Denmark have made it unlawful for tickets to be offered above face-value.
An unauthorized resell of a ticket in France, if not finished via the promoter or licensed ticket platforms, can result in a superb of as much as EUR15,000.
Masse stated work ought to be finished with provinces to find out a regular quantity, however he would favor to see these reselling tickets restricted to not more than 5 per cent above the unique value.
World Information reached out to Champagne’s workplace for touch upon the letter in addition to if the federal authorities is planning actions on ticket value gouging, however didn’t hear again by publication.
It’s not simply on the federal stage, both. Ontario NDP MPP Krystyn Wong-Tam has launched a movement calling on the provincial authorities to seek the advice of with stakeholders and examine to create a system to finish value gouging.
“Followers are paying the worth for Ontario authorities inaction on ticket resale racket,” Wong-Tam stated.
Ontario tried to place in place a resale value cap of not more than 50 per cent above face worth in 2017, nonetheless it was paused after Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives got here to energy.
The federal authorities in its 2024 Finances stated it will work with provinces and territories and encourage the adoption of greatest observe necessities for ticket gross sales, together with transparency round surprising fees and cracking down on “reseller practices which unfairly drive up costs,” corresponding to via bot expertise.
Tsai says extra must be finished, suggesting the Competitors Bureau of Canada ought to order a breakup of LiveNation Ticketmaster to permit for competitors out there.
Requested if it was contemplating a probe into corporations like Ticketmaster, or if value gouging and management over costs constitutes anti-competitive behaviour, the Competitors Bureau of Canada stated it enforces the Competitors Act, together with provisions round price-fixing and abuse of dominant positions.
“The Competitors Bureau shouldn’t be a value regulator, and corporations are usually free to set the worth stage at which they promote their merchandise,” a spokesperson wrote in an e-mail. “Solely the provinces and territories have guidelines associated to price-gouging in Canada.”
Earlier this yr, the U.S. took motion towards Ticketmaster and LiveNation, suing each and accusing them of operating an unlawful monopoly over dwell occasions and asking a court docket to interrupt up the system.
— with information from The Related Press
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