The market for reselling tickets for live sports and music events "is to be tightened after the government bowed to pressure from the House of Lords to ensure a core government bill does not fall in the final days of the coalition’s term," according to Rigby & Blitz of the FINANCIAL TIMES.
U.K. Culture Secretary Sajid Javid "agreed to amendments" put forward by former Conservative Sports Minister Antony Moynihan "to increase regulation around the secondary ticket market."
The regulations "will force companies such as Ticketmaster and StubHub to publish information on the tickets they sell, including who they buy tickets from, its face value and the ticket’s terms and conditions."
It should "make it harder for such companies to resell in-demand tickets, such as this autumn’s Rugby World Cup in England." Rugby Football Union CEO
Ian Ritchie said that "he hoped the restrictions would be in place in time for the tournament." The decision "is a big climbdown" for Javid, who last month overturned peers’ attempts "to insert this clause into the bill in the House of Commons, on the basis that it could 'overburden individual fans with red tape'" (FT, 2/24).
