Mr. Kieran Grace:

I thank the committee for the invitation to address it on the Sale of Tickets (Sporting and Cultural Events) Bill 2017. The Bill’s main provision is the proposed prohibition of the sale, or offering for sale, of tickets to events with a capacity of over 300 for a price in excess of 10% above their face value. The other provisions deal mainly with the interpretation, application and enforcement of this prohibition. This departmental submission focuses accordingly on the proposed statutory price cap of 110% of the face value of tickets. It draws on the results of the public consultation on ticket resale undertaken by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation in 2017, the subsequent engagement with stakeholders, and information obtained from public authorities in a number of European Union and European Economic Area member states with legislation that restricts ticket resale.

The responses to the public consultation and subsequent discussions showed significant, though not universal, support for some form of price cap legislation. A statutory price cap received support from two of the three main sporting bodies, the GAA and the FAI; the two main event promoters; the Consumers Association of Ireland; and a number of public representatives and consumers. The IRFU reserved its position on the introduction of legislation on ticket resale and stated its willingness to participate in further discussions on the issue. Opposition to a statutory price cap came mainly from primary ticketing services providers and secondary ticket platforms. The European Consumer Centre Ireland also had reservations about price cap legislation on the grounds that the secondary ticket market could have benefits for consumers and that a cap on prices would be difficult to enforce in cross-border transactions in particular.

In respect of ticket resale, there are no precise figures on the exact number of ticketed entertainment and sporting events that take place every year, but it is reasonable to assume that it is in the thousands. While the figure can vary from year to year, the number of entertainment events that give rise to a non-marginal level of resale is probably no more than 50, and the number of such events that give rise to any significant level of resale is generally no more than ten. Most of the stadium and outdoor arena concerts this summer had or have tickets available on the primary ticket market. The tickets for these events on secondary marketplaces were generally listed at, a little above, or even below face value. Of the 38 events taking place in the 3Arena between now and the end of the year, just four are currently sold out. Our discussions with industry representatives and monitoring of secondary ticket platforms suggest that secondary ticket sales typically account for between 1% and 5% of the tickets sold for major entertainment events but can rise to 10% or a little over for some exceptionally high-demand events.

The number of sporting events that give rise to an appreciable level of resale is, depending on fixtures, generally between five and ten annually. The proportion of tickets offered for resale for these events is well below that for major entertainment events due to the restrictive ticket distribution arrangements that apply. The great majority of people attending major sporting and entertainment events, therefore, are people who purchased their tickets from the primary seller.

In his Second Stage speech on the Bill, Deputy Quinlivan stated that one of its main aims was to target those who buy tickets for events they have no intention of attending with the intention of reselling them at a large profit. Deputy Quinlivan went on to say that, despite their best efforts, most people seeking tickets for high-demand events have no chance of getting them because of the activities of resellers.

In order to get a factually-based assessment of the extent to which the secondary market prevents fans from accessing tickets for major events, the Department obtained detailed information from Ticketmaster and the main secondary platforms operating in Ireland about two events that gave rise to particular criticism about secondary ticket sales, namely, the Coldplay and U2 concerts in Croke Park in July 2017. While there was a significant and, it would appear, above-average level of resale for these events, it was not the reason most people seeking tickets on the primary ticket market failed to get them. Combined demand for tickets for the two events exceeded supply by a factor of more than three to one. Even if all of the tickets resold above face value on the main secondary platforms had been available to buyers on the primary ticket market, they would have met less than 5% of the estimated unsatisfied demand for tickets. In other words, more than 19 out of every 20 of the tickets unsuccessfully sought from the primary seller for these events would still not have been available for sale to fans even if there had been no tickets on sale on the main secondary ticket platforms.

While legislation along the lines proposed in Deputy Quinlivan's Bill will act to counter ticket profiteering, the evidence suggests therefore that it is unlikely to improve significantly the ability of fans to obtain tickets for particularly high demand events. That objective will only be achieved by a better match between supply and demand. This can clearly be done in some cases – the main reason for the low level of secondary market activity for the recent Ed Sheeran concerts is that the artist and the promoter ensured that sufficient shows were put on to meet demand. It is not possible to do this, however, in other cases. The GAA cannot put on an extra all-Ireland final to meet the demand for tickets. The touring schedules of major international acts may not always permit the staging of an additional concert in Ireland. In some cases, demand for tickets may exceed supply for one concert but may not be sufficient to make a second concert economically viable.

The increased prevalence and prominence of ticket resale has been driven by the Internet and the ready facility it offers to buy and sell tickets online on secondary marketplaces and websites and on social networks. If ticket resale in Ireland is subject to a statutory price cap, the borderless character of online trading makes it likely that some people in this country who wish to sell tickets at a higher price than that permitted by the legislation, or who are prepared to buy tickets at such a higher price, will go to secondary ticket marketplaces in countries where ticket resale is legal and is not subject to a similar price cap. In its response to the public consultation, the European Consumer Centre Ireland stated that, on the evidence of consumer complaints to the centre, the likelihood that traders operating outside Ireland would circumvent Irish legislation on ticket resale would appear to be high.

At present, ticket reselling above face value is permitted in all European Union and European Economic Area countries other than Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France - except with the authorisation of the event organiser - Portugal, Poland and Norway. Departmental officials discussed the experience with, and the effectiveness of, their ticket resale legislation with consumer protection authorities in Belgium, Denmark, Portugal and Norway. All indicated that while the legislation had been reasonably effective in preventing prohibited resale activity within their national borders, there continued to be significant levels of resale activity for high-demand domestic events on secondary ticket platforms and websites in other countries. Enforcing national prohibitions or restrictions on ticket resale in other jurisdictions is problematic and had not been undertaken by enforcement authorities in any of the four countries mentioned.

The international nature of the audience for major entertainment events emerged also from the data obtained from secondary ticket platforms on the Coldplay and U2 concerts in 2017. Almost two thirds of the tickets for the two events combined which were sold on these platforms were purchased by buyers from 85 different countries outside the State. Buyers outside Ireland seeking to buy tickets for events in Ireland on online marketplaces based outside Ireland may not feel themselves bound by a statutory cap on ticket prices in Irish legislation. To the extent however that such legislation was effective in reducing the supply of tickets for events in Ireland to overseas buyers, there would be a consequential loss in tourism revenues to Irish hospitality providers and the Exchequer.

On possible unintended consequences, the established secondary ticket marketplaces offer buyers a guarantee that they will be refunded the price of tickets which are not delivered or prove to be fake. Other than for certain trusted resellers, those reselling tickets on these marketplaces do not receive payment until after the buyer has gained access to the event. While many oppose the activities of secondary ticket marketplaces and there are questions in some cases about the implementation of the guarantees they offer, these marketplaces nevertheless afford consumers a level of protection that does not apply to secondary tickets sourced from general online marketplaces, pop-up websites offering tickets for specific events, social networks or street resellers. While legislation along the lines proposed in the Bill would help to reduce the level of above-face value resale, it is unlikely to eliminate it entirely. As long as there are sizeable gains to be made from reselling tickets for high-demand events at a multiple of the face value price and there are people willing to pay such prices, there is likely to be some secondary market activity at prices above those permitted by the legislation. If, as is possible, the proposed legislation would lead to the departure of the established secondary marketplaces from the Irish market, the resale channels that will, to whatever extent, fill the gap left by their departure are unlikely to offer the same guarantees to ticket buyers or to operate a business model that provides as effective a deterrent against ticket fraud.

We are happy to answer any questions the committee may have.