TM Criticizes Irish Secondary Ticketing ‘Media Frenzy’

Ticketmaster has criticized a bill proposed by the Irish government, which aims at fining re-sellers in breach of a 10 percent profit limit. 

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Resellers aiming for profits of more than 10 percent beyond face value would face fines up to euro 5,000 should the proposed bill become law, the Irish Independent reports.

While Aiken Promotions and the Gaelic Athletic Association support the bill, Ticketmaster does not.

In a submission sent to the government, it states that “our data shows that less than one percent 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.”

The submission states that there was “no evidence to support the view that any of our clients are placing tickets directly onto the resale market.”

Ticketmaster also criticized the “media frenzy around ticket resale,” which “has only served to confuse the public and sensationalize the issue.”

Live Nation/Ticketmaster, for the most part, takes the view that secondary markets are free markets on which tickets are sold for the amount people are willing to pay.

This becomes muddied when bots buy up huge numbers of tickets or primary sellers place tickets directly on the secondary market, as has been shown to be the case in Italy.

Other parts from the Ticketmaster submission, obtained by the Irish Independent, state “there is often rhetoric in the media that the resale market is broken, but this is not the case.

The resale market is an example of an efficient market with ticket prices clearing at their market level. “Event organizers can look to the resale market to give them an indication of how they should be pricing their tickets.”