Industry Noize: Commons Debates Ticket Touts

Hodgson – who represents Washington and Sunderland West – led a 90-minute debate on the subject Jan. 21, in a bid to get legislation through by adding it as an amendment to the Consumer Rights Bill.

She told MPs that secondary ticketing is hitting all sorts of events such as the David Bowie exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at the National Gallery and the Chelsea Flower Show.

Only a handful of MPs took part in the discussion. Philip Davies, the Conservative member for Shipley, showed it may be difficult for Hodgson to get parliamentary support for her cause.

“I admire her persistence; she comes back time after time on the same issue, but I am afraid that time after time she is wrong about it,” he said.

After the debate, Ticketmaster Resale International managing director Christoph Homann said it showed there is clearly no political appetite to impose unnecessary regulation on the resale market.

“Calls for overzealous regulation of resale are old hat, the debate has moved on,” he said.

Hodgson’s All-Party Parliamentary Group that’s investigating the secondary market has also had a setback. Its first inquiry meeting scheduled for Jan. 29 has been canceled because none of the secondary market firms invited – Viagogo, Seatwave, Stubhub and GetMeIn – are able to attend.

Further meetings are scheduled for Feb. 5, Feb. 26 and March 5.

All the APPG members have also been invited to take part in a roundtable discussion with the live event industry at the Ticketing Technology Forum at the Wembley Hilton March 19, the same day Chancellor George Osborne is to deliver his new budget.

For more industry news visit PollstarPro.com.