CTS Eventim Addresses Print-At-Home Fee Court Ruling In Germany

Screenshot: eventim.de – Eventim.de
The German High Court ruled that the print-at-home fees Eventim charges are unlawful

After Germany’s Federal High Court in Karlsruhe ruled on Aug. 23 that CTS Eventim’s print-at-home fees on tickets were unlawful, the live entertainment giant has responded.

Yesterday’s ruling caused Eventim’s share to plummet,  which is why the company was quick to point out that the judgement would have “only a moderate financial impact” for the following reasons.

CTS Eventim pointed out that the fee for print-at-home – or Ticketdirect, as Eventim chose to call it – was charged on a per-order basis, and not per ticket.

What is more, “the ticket orders addressed by the judgment only account for approximately five per cent of the total number handled by eventim.de. In total, they represent sales revenue of around one million Euro – and therefore a mere thousandth of Group revenue,” the company writes in a statement.

One reason Ticketdirect wasn’t used more widespread in the past is the fact that many venues in Germany are publicly-owned. Thus access control technologies needed for Ticketdirect are not as widespread as in many other European countries, in which CTS Eventim operates. 

“The proceeds from print@home make it possible for numerous venues in Germany to offer their visitors an additional, very convenient and secure option for gaining admission,” the statement continues.

CTS Eventim also emphasized that the court ruling states, “an adjustment to that fee may well be acceptable,” hinting that the surcharge may not be scrapped entirely in the long run, but rather adjusted.

“CTS Eventim acknowledges the BGH judgment and will implement it accordingly. As soon as the detailed grounds for judgment are released, the company will make the appropriate adjustments to its Ticketdirect service,” the statement concludes.