Fifa World Cup ticket ‘misbehaviour’ warning to MPs over UK’s Sporting Events Bill
Fifa has been accused of “misbehaviour” in its World Cup ticketing by resellers, who warn that such practice could become rife in the UK if a bill up for debate in Parliament today is passed.
The Sporting Events Bill was drawn up to make it easier for the UK to host one-off events such as the Olympics but amendments from peers could expand its powers to regular occasions like Wimbledon and the FA Cup final.
Its provisions include banning third parties from reselling tickets, leaving the path clear for competition organisers to run their own secondary markets – as Fifa did during this summer’s World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico.
Fifa was criticised for sky-high and dynamic pricing in its primary ticket sales while also implementing a 30 per cent surcharge on resales and being opaque about availability. Its president Gianni Infantino has defended its conduct.
“We’ve seen misbehavior by Fifa when they have full control over resale,” StubHub International CEO Bob Kupbens told Morning Wire. “When you allow these rights holders to own both the primary and the resale of their tickets it’s been demonstrated that there’s misbehavior that happens in the form of either price gouging or they’re not fully transparent with customers.”
Bill risks ‘four-fold increase in ticket fraud’
StubHub International – not part of the same business as StubHub US, which itself was highly criticised for allowing speculative selling during the World Cup – says banning third-party resale also risks driving consumers to the black market, where they have no protections.
“You wind up moving transactions from a highly regulated, transparent, customer-friendly marketplace and into unregulated spaces like social media or other places that will attract either fraudsters or organised crime,” said Kupbens.
“That’s effectively what will happen if the Sporting Events Bill is amended in the way that it’s been proposed. It’s been proven in other markets where secondary ticketing is banned, in Australia and Ireland, that fraud rates go up four times. If you do the math through that in the UK, you end up with £1.2bn in fraud.”
StubHub International insists it supports the “original intent” behind the bill, which began in the House of Lords and had its first reading in the Commons this week.
Aside from cracking down on ticket resale, it also contains provisions to protect sponsors from ambush marketing and for local authorities to manage logistics. It was designed to help the UK make successful bids for the Olympics and men’s World Cup, among others.
“We love the idea of the economic opportunity for the UK,” said Kupbens. “But I think as soon as you add these amendments you risk massive fraud for consumers.”