The move was in response to growing consumer complaints regarding the purchase of tickets to sold-out shows. When people tried to buy tickets through the company’s official website they were redirected to their re-sale website TicketsNow which sold the same tickets for increased prices.
Amendment To Ticket Speculation Act
The legislation is an amendment to Ontario’s Ticket Speculation Act. That legislation was enacted in 1992, and prohibited the sale of event tickets for more than market value.
The proposed amendment makes ticket re-sale illegal, and fines individuals and companies who engage in the practice. Ontario’s Attorney-General Chris Bentley says the revision was aimed at giving ticket-buyers fairness. In remarks published by the Toronto Star, Bentley says he feels the legislation has achieved that goal: “I believe they’ll get fair access to tickets, and fair access to tickets is what we’re trying to achieve.”
The bill's critics say it ignores the bigger problem of ticket markups. Ticket-buyers potentially pay service fees of between 10-15% on for buying tickets through Ticketmaster. The NDP’s Peter Kormos doesn’t see the legislation as a solution. Instead he proposes a cap of 7% on those increases. In comments published in the Toronto Star Kormos said he thought the goal should be to stop companies from ripping off the consumers: “The goal should be to protect consumers from being ripped off, and you do that by controlling the amount of markup fee the reseller can charge.”
Ticketmaster’s Defense, New Jersey Lawsuit
Ticketmaster released a statement attacking the legislation and defending TicketsNow. According to Canada Newswire , the Ontario government’s new policy disappointed the agency.
The statement also denied any special treatment given to TicketsNow, and diversion to other re-sale websites: “We do not divert to TicketsNow. TicketsNow is fuelled by the public’s demand.”
The state of New Jersey has recently settled a lawsuit over Bruce Springsteen tickets. Consumers were trying to get tickets for a sold-out show, and were directed to the re-sale website. The settlement requires the agency to only sell tickets through TicketsNow after sales have already begun on the main website. That decision applies throughout the entire United States.
Groups in Manitoba, Alberta, and Ontario all have class-action lawsuits against Ticketmaster. All have legislation restricting the re-sale of even tickets.
It’s the government’s intention to pass the legislation during the spring session. There’s some concern among consumers that such a move will restrict enforce of the legislation. Bentley responded to those objections saying that enforcing it would be left up to police, and police would do so only on a complaints basis.
Laura Steiner - First hand experience covering politics at all levels; municipal, provincial, and federal.
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