Proposed bill on new ticket touting laws in Ireland meets opposition from Ticketmaster and Seatwave

A consultation on the issue was undertaken in response to public concern at the resale of tickets for major entertainment and sporting events at a price often well in excess of their face value.

Ticketmaster Ireland and Ticketmaster’s official marketplace for the resale of tickets, Seatwave, have expressed their opposition to a new bill that would make it illegal to resell tickets to events in Ireland for a profit in excess of 10%. A public consultation about the issue, which came about after tickets to concerts in Ireland involving acts such as U2 and Ed Sheeran went on sale for sums well in excess of face value after they had originally sold out, attracted submissions from 24 parties, including the FAI, the IRFU, the GAA, DoneDeal, Tickets.ie and Aiken Promotions. The bill, brought forward by Sinn Féin TD Maurice Quinlivan (a draft bill was drawn up by Noel Rock TD last summer), received support in a number of submissions delivered in response to the public consultations, but there was opposition expressed to the proposed legislation by both Ticketmaster Ireland and Seatwave. In their submission, for example, Ticketmaster Ireland said that “the media frenzy around ticket resale has only served to confuse the public and sensationalise the issue” and that their data showed that “less than 1% of the tickets that Ticketmaster Ireland sells on behalf of its clients are subsequently resold – a vastly different story to what is told in the Irish press”. Seatwave, meanwhile, said that, based on years of experience, that they strongly believed “that the introduction of legislation to regulate the ticket resale market will be both ineffective and will, in fact, be detrimental to Irish fans”. “In Ireland, the ticket resale market used to take place underground or offshore – out of reach of any consumer protection,” the Seatwave submission read. “Today, fans that experience fraud tend to be using classified sites such as Gumtree, fraudulent websites or purchasing from individuals in person. “Seatwave offers a safe alternative; a transparent marketplace that provides protection to fans through its fan guarantee.” The Seatwave submission also pointed to a number of examples of legislation that has been implemented globally that they say “has simply not worked,” referencing examples in Alberta in Canada and New York, Illinois, Florida, Louisiana and Minnesota in the United States. All submissions to the public consultation can be viewed here.