UK To Ban the Resale of Tickets For Profit To Protect Fans (reuters.com)
- Reference: 0180143337
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/11/19/1745251/uk-to-ban-the-resale-of-tickets-for-profit-to-protect-fans
- Source link: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-ban-resale-tickets-profit-protect-fans-2025-11-19/
> Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said touts were ripping off fans by using bots to snap up batches of tickets for coveted shows and reselling them at sky-high prices. "Our new proposals will shut down the touts' racket and make world-class music, comedy, theatre and sport affordable for everyone," she said, after the government had promised action.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-ban-resale-tickets-profit-protect-fans-2025-11-19/
Great idea in theory (Score:2)
In practice, scalpers will find workarounds
Some people actually believe the fiction that governments can effectively stop things by banning them
All laws do is raise the price and fine or imprison those too incompetent to find good workarounds
Re:Great idea in theory (Score:5, Informative)
> In practice, scalpers will find workarounds
They always have. Back in my day (shit I'm getting old), it was illegal to sell tickets for more than the face value where I live, which stopped bulk purchases. You'd still find scalpers outside ball games and concerts trying to make a few bucks off tickets - and I have no problem with that model. It's the wholesale buying up of entire venues I don't like.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't think it's a good idea, even in theory. What this proposal will ensure is that tickets are very hard to find.
Imagine Bad Bunny announces a show in your hometown. Tickets sell out in an hour. Now, if you want to go, you have to be watching the Ticketmaster web site like a hawk. A ticket will be listed for sale and immediately be snapped up by some other lucky fan. You've just traded one problem, high prices, with another, a lottery system. What makes you so confident this is better?
Here's a proposal
Artists/venues leaving money on the table? (Score:1)
What I've never understood is why, if a scalper can sell a ticket for $1000, the venue sells that same ticket (to the scalper) for $100.
If the ticket is actually worth $1000, why wouldn't the venue sell it for that amount themselves?
Re: Artists/venues leaving money on the table? (Score:3)
They do, it's called surge pricing.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_pricing
Re: Artists/venues leaving money on the table? (Score:3)
Agreed, and that's a part of the same news story. The popular nineties Beatles cover-act Oasis tried to leave less of that money on the table for touts or scalpers to help themselves to. Some people hated the redulting high ticket prices, the media got all over it, and that response was a contributor to this current legal change. Contemporary source: [1]https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/art... [bbc.co.uk]
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20r26p7d0ro
Re: (Score:2)
> What I've never understood is why, if a scalper can sell a ticket for $1000, the venue sells that same ticket (to the scalper) for $100.
> If the ticket is actually worth $1000, why wouldn't the venue sell it for that amount themselves?
A $1,000 ticket better come with a guaranteed blowjob from the artist. I don't care who the fuck it is, there is ZERO chance any ticket to a concert or performance of some kind is worth $!,000. I wouldn't even pay that for a three day event.
Re: (Score:2)
I'd pay $1000 for a ticket, depending on what the ticket was too.
I am not gonna pay just to listen to someone sing, except MAYBE Sarah Brightman.
Having seen it, I would pay $1000 to see "O", as it was the best production I've ever been to. But I would probably not pay that much before having seen it. As it was, I paid about $300 each for our tickets.
I paid around $1000 for my wife to see Adele in Las Vegas, because she really wanted to go. She had a good time. I didn't double down on that by going with her
Re: (Score:1)
A $1,000 ticket better come with ...
I'd settle for the ticket coming with a signed album of their latest gold record, but only if the record was made of real gold and the gold content was worth at least $1000.
Re: (Score:1)
> A $1,000 ticket better come with a guaranteed blowjob from the artist.
Ozzy Osbourne will rise from the grave for you.
Re: (Score:2)
Because many artists actually like their fans and want to give them all a chance to attend, rather than extracting the maximum profit from them and restricting it to only really rich people. Plus charging $5000 for a Taylor Swift ticket is a bad look even if they would sell out. This model used to work fine when ticket sales were in person, where some of the cost of buying tickets was time, effort, etc. and could have better verification that it's an actual person. That deterred most large-scale scalping
Re: (Score:2)
Right, so it's the artists that enable scalpers, by underpricing their product.
Here is a reality for you. Even if "bots" were 100% eliminated and each and every ticket were "manually" purchased by someone, scalpers would still flourish.
Why?
Because demand will always exceed supply.
If I can buy two $100 tickets, knowing full well that some fool will pay $2000/each for them, of COURSE I'm going to pursue that opportunity!
And why is some fool going to pay $2000 each for those tickets? Because only 10,000 (or wh
Re: (Score:2)
> If the ticket is actually worth $1000, why wouldn't the venue sell it for that amount themselves?
That's a great question, one which should have good answers before enacting legislation. I can suggest a few.
First, reputation. Artists don't want to be seen as profit hungry bandits. If Beyonce sold seats at $1,000 for nosebleed seats, a lot of her fans would be alienated. She has plausible deniability if she retails them for a mere $500.
Second, risk. The venue doesn't want seats to go empty. If they underprice tickets, they guarantee themselves a predictable amount of income.
Third, buzz. If tickets origin
so ... (Score:4, Interesting)
I sadly actually read the article and it addressed (not at all) where my mind went. What about fees?
Just some assurance that it will be "reasonable" basically Ticketmaster is protected, they get the fees from person A, then get to charge more fees to person B.
The correct title is UK proposes making sure Ticketmaster profits are protected in banning others from profiting off reselling tickets.
So long as you ignore the root problem... (Score:2)
Which is the bot-driven sales. Followed by commission sales agents enabling the process.
I may never see another major act in person. Just don't want to participate in the fraud.
Selling commemorative T-Shirt for Bon Jovi (Score:2)
Hi Slashdot, I have a commemorative plain white T-Shirt for sale in honor of Bon Jovi's concert at Wembley next year. One of a kind. Asking $2,500. Will throw in two free tickets to the concert. Thank you.
Oasis was the final straw (Score:2)
All tickets were gone in minutes and put up at 10x prices later. Some people started joking that they'd have to remortgage their house to buy one.
Re: (Score:2)
All that means is that the prices should have been set for at least 10x to begin with.
Get off my lawn (Score:2)
This is advantage of getting old.
Anyone I’d be interested in are either retired or dead.
How to tackle the bots (Score:2)
I realize, it's a hard problem, but maybe a government can help in general with clamping down on bots, it seems they cause a lot of problems, not just in ticket markets.
Maybe governments could issue bot licences, then when they see an unlicensed bot, or a bot doing something outside the scope of its license they can at least try to remedy, either technical or legal (or military !)
Re: (Score:2)
I wonder if there is a way to keep track of a purchase being made by a connection to a particular website. If so, I don't see why they couldn't track the time taken to make one or more purchases, and deny it automatically if under a particular threshold.
Sure, bot makers could just adjust for it, but at some point they would adjust the time taken by the bot by so much that they would absolutely lose that speed advantage bots have to humans, IMO leveling the playing field dramatically.
Re: (Score:2)
> I realize, it's a hard problem, but maybe a government can help in general with clamping down on bots,
I want to implement a BuyBot. Do I need a license for that?
The entitled crowd is the problem (Score:2)
Concerts are a luxury. If someone richer or more devoted than you wants to pay more for a ticket then you don't get one.
Tickets should be sold in a reverse auction. The price starts high on the first day of sales and drops to basically the admin cost of the ticket when the concert starts.
But their are people who feel they should be entitled to have a chance to buy a good ticket for the price they want to pay even if it is less than what someone else would pay. This entitled attitude leads to perfor
Re: (Score:2)
That's exactly it!
Entitled people who feel they should be able to get the ticket they want, at the price they want, regardless of what anyone else is willing to pay for it. That's the real problem, right there.
Ticketmaster (Score:1)
In Canada Ticketmaster sells a lot (most) of the event tickets to their other company that resells the tickets. This cuts out the performer from their ticket revenue and of course makes it more expensive for the people that want to go. I'm not sure how this isn't scalping, and I thought that was always illegal. I remember when sports and concerts were inexpensive or at least reasonable. My only solution to the conundrum is to never go to anything. It is weird that something like Hockey, which was chara
Re: (Score:2)
I have always thought event tickets were high priced and avoided them.
I don't think I went to one until well into my 30s....possibly even my 40s, when I felt like I had "money to blow on stupid shit".
Re: (Score:1)
Yes, I hear you. But it shouldn't be this way. I guess the world has changed a fair bit. For me a company selling tickets to another company that they own as their own middleman should simply be fraud. I'm fine with not going, I just want it to be my idea.
The UK has no ID cards (Score:2)
So it won't work anyway.
12 years olds unable to go to a Taylor Swift concert because they don't have a driving license would be rioting in the streets.
Re: I'm so glad the government makes me safe. (Score:4, Insightful)
Can you explain how this is a bad thing?
Re: (Score:2)
Sales to events should be done only by the event organizers or venue. If you want to sell your ticket, you should get a refund. This is how it is done with almost all other tickets (planes, trains, etc). You can by all the seats between New York and London, and them sell them at a profit.
Re: (Score:3)
The new law (according to the article) still allows the re-sale of tickets, but not for more than the original price.
Re: (Score:2)
> The new law (according to the article) still allows the re-sale of tickets, but not for more than the original price.
Which is good as I occasionally organise group outings to a play or similar. People pay me the cost of their ticket. I do, sometimes, profit as some theatres will give (me) a free ticket if I buy more than 10 or so -- but that is not why I do it.
Re: (Score:2)
Private arrangements to compensate for tickets is not what this bill wants to remove. It wants to remove resale for profit by scalpers and opportunistic trading. That is a good thing. I think if you aren't in the party going to the event, you should return the ticket to the venue, and others can find it and purchase it then. If you show up with a party of 10, thats nothing to do with this. You go in. But you shouldn't have 10 tickets. and not go yourself, just return them.
Re: (Score:2)
I feel the same about prime ribeye steaks. Nobody should be able to buy thousands of pounds of that stuff, with no intent of eating it themselves, and then be able to sell it at a profit at some place they call a "grocery store". They should be required to sell it for no more than whatever they paid for it.
Re: (Score:2)
Dude, you know you're being disingenuous.
Are you a devout Capitalist that would prefer that there be no regulations on the market to protect people from other peoples predation?
Re: (Score:2)
There's been ticket scalping since the days when I was a kid...
It was always, back then....illegal to scalp tickets, but they would do things like sell a Bic lighter for $200 and throw in a ticket free with it.
I imagine they'll do something similar to get around this law over there in EU.
Re: I'm so glad the government makes me safe. (Score:2)
The last time I went to a show I had to supply the names of who would be attending and we all had our ID checked at the door. We also had to have our tickets saved in our digital wallets, because apparently neither the venue's fee nor TicketBastard's fee are enough to pay for someone to print an actual fucking ticket. These obviously aren't universal practices (thank heavens) because they would have already stopped the scalpers.
Re: I'm so glad the government makes me safe. (Score:2)
I was asking why banning ticket scalping is a bad thing.
Re: (Score:2)
Given that scalpers will no longer be able to sell their tickets online (as the police would notice) and will have to go back to selling them off street corners this will in fact do a lot to alleviate the problem
Re: (Score:2)
I don't think most police in most places are going to care.
Hell, when my car was stolen, I couldn't even get them to show up. I had to file a report online. I of course never heard from the police.
Re: (Score:1)
All it does is make it so that the ability to get a ticket shifts from having more money to he who gets there first, which isn't really a huge tradeoff.
The reality is that if the tickets are selling out that fast and they're being resold for significantly more than the original price, then they were underpriced to begin with.
Re: I'm so glad the government makes me safe. (Score:5, Informative)
> The reality is that if the tickets are selling out that fast and they're being resold for significantly more than the original price, then they were underpriced to begin with.
Tickets sell out fast because scalpers use bots to buy them all.
Re: (Score:2)
>> The reality is that if the tickets are selling out that fast and they're being resold for significantly more than the original price, then they were underpriced to begin with.
> Tickets sell out fast because scalpers use bots to buy them all.
Which in a free market indicates that the price is below what the market would bear. Otherwise, they would be unable to make a profit by reselling them. So the GP is not wrong, at least from a pure price optimization perspective.
This is not to say that there aren't societal benefits from charging less than the market will bear, of course, nor saying that scalping in any way adds value. It is basically rent seeking behavior, which makes it a drain on society. But the point still remains that obviously th
Re: (Score:2)
How do we know that the scalpers would not just continue, but raise their prices even more? It may seem a silly question to some, but IDK, it's the first one that stands out in response to the idea of just raising prices.
Re: (Score:2)
> How do we know that the scalpers would not just continue, but raise their prices even more? It may seem a silly question to some, but IDK, it's the first one that stands out in response to the idea of just raising prices.
We don't, though the laws of supply and demand pretty much dictate that there must be some equilibrium point beyond which people buy fewer tickets and they end up losing money on non-refundable tickets.
Note that I'm not suggesting that raising prices is the right solution. It's a terrible solution.
Re: (Score:2)
I was alluding more to the fast part. Tickets for some shows sell out in minutes, and that is almost entirely automated buying. A regular person sitting at their PC or on their phone is at a huge disadvantage from the start.
Re: (Score:2)
> All it does is make it so that the ability to get a ticket shifts from having more money to he who gets there first, which isn't really a huge tradeoff.
It is if have less money. At least that way you have a chance.
Re: (Score:2)
Underpriced according to who?
The market has a certain load it can bear in terms of how high it goes, but how is that the same thing as "this thing is underpriced?." Not to mention that it requires ignoring the role of scalper bots that can buy up supply faster than organic humans - even those intending on scalping (but doing so w/o bots) - can buy (especially if you factor in website crashes from the influx of bots).
Re: (Score:3)
Some people see the government doing anything as inherently bad.
Re: (Score:1)
That's because, generally, at this point, it is.
It's going out of way to justify itself and its huge budgets by "discovering" problems that it just has to "solve" when it doesn't need to do ANYTHING!
I mean, honestly, so people can't afford to go see a Taylor Swift (or whatever) concert. BIG FUCKING DEAL!!! This is not a problem that the govt needs to be involved in. It just doesn't! It's TRIVIAL BULLSHIT that just doesn't matter!!
Re: I'm so glad the government makes me safe. (Score:1)
It's fucking organised crime.. and so yes, the government does need to step in to sort it out. Also, there were a number of petitions signed by a bunch of people sent to Uk parliament asking them to sort it out.. This might not be the final fix, and banks are protesting, because 'fraud will increase' and they will need to cover that.. but this shit is out of control and it needs to start somewhere..
Re: (Score:2)
So what if you do? All that means is that the price was too low to begin with.
Re: (Score:2)
> Sales to events should be done only by the event organizers or venue. If you want to sell your ticket, you should get a refund. This is how it is done with almost all other tickets (planes, trains, etc). You can by all the seats between New York and London, and them sell them at a profit.
This is not, however, how most other products work. If I buy a car then decide I no longer want it, I'm not obligated to sell it back to the manufacturer, I just sell it to some guy down the street. Why would tickets be any different?
Of course there's a practical difference between a used car and an unused ticket but the principle should be the same.
I get it: people hate paying sky high resale prices to see Taylor. Banning resale doesn't change the fact that there are more people who want to see her at $100
Re: (Score:2)
Because it's solving the problem with legislation that doesn't actually target the entity creating the problem. Ticketmaster/LiveNation is a transnational criminal conspiracy. They are 100% responsible for this problem, having created this entire market under their own vertical hierarchy. This problem has a very simple solution that any world leader could adopt in an instant:
Revoke the corporate charters for LiveNation/Ticketmaster.
You can't stop a villainous supply chain by regulating the middle or the
Re: (Score:2)
Obviously, he's a tout.
Re: (Score:2)
It cuts the scalpers out of the transaction. Since Ticketmaster has become a first-party scalper, it simply hands them a monopoly on the practice.
Re: (Score:1)
I was obviously taking the piss. But since you asked nicely...
Scalpers only exist because primary sellers deliberately under-price and under-supply tickets (often because of pressure from artists, venues, or politicians who want to look like they’re "keeping prices affordable").
That artificial shortage creates a massive arbitrage opportunity. Scalpers are just people who noticed the gap between what the ticket is legally allowed to cost and what it’s actually worth to fans on the day. Banni
Re: I'm so glad the government makes me safe. (Score:2)
So people don't like scalpers because they inflate the price of tickets. So the solution you propose is to inflate the price of tickets.
I fail to see how the average concert goers benefits from this
Re: (Score:2)
The average concert goer would be better off simply by finding something else to do.
If nobody bought tickets, prices would come down.
Re: (Score:1)
I see no reason to empower the government to regulate the ticket market. "There are scalpers" isn't good enough. You aren't entitled to cheap tickets if someone else wants to pay more. What is hard to understand about that?
Re: I'm so glad the government makes me safe. (Score:2)
What's hard to understand is how I, an average concert goer, benefit from ticket price inflation.
If you're going to tell me that this is a good thing, then you need to explain how I benefit from it.
Re: (Score:1)
> What's hard to understand is how I, an average concert goer, benefit from ticket price inflation.
Who said you did? Nobody is here to have a limited/coddled debate with you about only the points you'd like to discuss.
> If you're going to tell me that this is a good thing, then you need to explain how I benefit from it.
You're having severe problems with reading comprehension if you think anyone ever said anything close to that. It might be the debate you want to have, but it's not the debate you are in. Don't be broke and you can afford to outbid others for the tickets you want.
Asking the government to help you is trying to use a sledgehammer to swat a fly. What's next, do you want to outlaw standing in
Re: (Score:2)
> underprice
What do you mean by this?
Re: (Score:1)
Underpricing = Pricing the tickets below what the market will pay for them as a way to please the artist, venue, etc... If someone gets a ticket they then want to resell, say as a gift or to an event they can no-longer attend, why should the government get to tell them they can NOT do that just because folks are jealous or angry about the prices?
Re: (Score:2)
Prevention of luxury products being sold for what people are willing to pay? It's obvious.
Freedom--
Tyranny++
Self inserted middleman must die! (Score:2)
If you want a ticket you can actually buy one yourself, more so now that the bots and scalpers aren't buying them all up before you even click 'add to cart'.
Sure you can hate government but this is the wrong hill to die on.
Re: (Score:1)
I've been to several big events this year and haven't had a damn bit of trouble buying tickets through the standard channels. So, I call bullshit. I'll take my chances with the scalpers rather than risk the government making a dog's dinner of anything they touch.
Re: (Score:2)
I bought tickets for the NFL game in Dublin, Ireland!
If I can manage to do it, so can everyone else.
And if you can't? It was not meant to be!
Re: (Score:3)
Found the scalper.
Re: (Score:1)
Never skalped a ticket in my life. The one time I ever bought one second-hand was for a person who couldn't get them at the time and I was glad for the chance so they could join us at the event. I'm not scared of the free market and much more wary of the government.
Re: (Score:2)
So you think it's right that only the wealthy can attend major sporting events and concerts?
Re: (Score:1)
I think it's perfectly fine if someone resells their ticket. If the market will bear that cost/resell, then so be it. I go to concerts, sporting events, and other big events and have for decades in multiple large cities. I've NEVER had a problem. It's a false dichotomy to present the situation as if it's either the tender mercies of the government or everything will be scalped. Don't be a simpleton.
Re: (Score:2)
So you were at Superbowl? The world series? Taylor Swift concert? What big event were you at and how do you have $20k for a ticket?
Re: (Score:2)
I've been to two of those three over the years, yes. The tickets most certainly didn't cost $20k. You're just full of shit. Look it up. The average cost of last year's superbowl tickets was $5,477 just days before on Stubhub. Last years World Series was $998–$1,213. So, first, stop lying .
Next, consider that even if some folks resold their tickets, there was both a willing buyer and seller and neither needed the government's help. The fact that someone like you was standing off to the side wishing th
Re: (Score:2)
Ok well I can't afford 5477 for a ticket. But that's ok, as long as you can go. You don't have to worry about bumping into us plebs.
Re: (Score:1)
I'm not angry at rich people for being able to do things I cannot because they have more money. That makes one of us.
Re: (Score:2)
Me either. The whole point of having money is to buy stuff.
The whole point of having more money than others is so that you can buy stuff that they can't.
Re: (Score:2)
> I think it's perfectly fine if someone resells their ticket. If the market will bear that cost/resell, then so be it. I go to concerts, sporting events, and other big events and have for decades in multiple large cities. I've NEVER had a problem. It's a false dichotomy to present the situation as if it's either the tender mercies of the government or everything will be scalped. Don't be a simpleton.
Your own sample of one does not preclude you from analysing other data points. If you did you would find this is actually a huge problem. Speaking of simpletons...
Re: (Score:1)
Oh, I see, sample size of 1 is too much for you to take but "Trust me bro" is your rejoinder? If your "data points" are so compelling why didn't you cite any, tough guy?
Re: (Score:3)
Try Google. Unless you have been in a coma till recently I'm surprised you are not aware of this being an ongoing problem.
[1]https://www.cbc.ca/news/invest... [www.cbc.ca]
[2]https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada... [www.cbc.ca]
[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/investigates/ticketmaster-crackdown-scalpers-9.6948616
[2] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/taylor-swift-toronto-ticket-prices-1.7389367
Re: (Score:1)
A couple of mainstream media articles that show folks are possibly scalping some tickets in Canada are proof of what, exactly? Where is the "huge problem" you referred to earlier? People are reselling tickets they bought . Sounds enterprising. I'm utterly failing to see the problem at all . Sounds like "Scalpers exist, ergo, we must have government intervention." Your "huge problem" is probably that you're a broke bitch who got outbid on a concert or show you wanted to see. Sound about right?
Re: (Score:2)
I don't even like Taylor Swift, and the concerts I do like don't have that problem. That does not mean it is not a problem. Even Trumptards, of which I am not one, can figure it out.
[1]https://www.ftc.gov/news-event... [ftc.gov]
The more disturbing part is this seems to be news to you. You sure about the coma thing?
[1] https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/09/ftc-sues-live-nation-ticketmaster-engaging-illegal-ticket-resale-tactics-deceiving-artists-consumers
Re: (Score:2)
Do you think it's right that only the wealth can afford a Ferrari?
Nevermind. You probably do.
Re: (Score:2)
> Do you think it's right that only the wealth can afford a Ferrari?
Do you know what a faulty comparison is? I'm guessing you don't.
Re: (Score:2)
Luxury products, with more demand than supply.