UK Government Drafts Law Banning For-Profit Ticket Resale

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is drafting new legislation to outlaw the for-profit resale of concert and theatre tickets on secondary platforms like Viagogo and StubHub. The government has assembled a dedicated bill team to develop the policy, which aims to implement tougher penalties for rule breaches and prevent platforms from moving their operations offshore to avoid regulation.

The move follows pressure from artists and industry figures who provided evidence of extreme price gouging. Research highlighted in Greater Manchester showed touts targeting small venues with mark-ups reaching as high as 19,728%. Additionally, the FanFair Alliance found that just three touts were responsible for more than 75% of certain ticket listings.

Viagogo has disputed claims regarding the volume of its listings and maintains that its policies prohibit speculative listings. If passed, the law would align the United Kingdom with a similar ban implemented by Ireland in 2021.