Issue 22 October 2008 £4.75
Action call to tackle ticket touts By Christina Eccles PRESSURE is growing for tough action to tackle ticket touts as thousands of fans were left out of pocket this summer after buying fake tickets – or ones that simply didn’t exist. Fans who bought tickets online for some of the UK’s biggest events found when they arrived, they were fake or representatives who were supposed to hand them over at the gates never turned up and were uncontactable. Islington Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading have confirmed they are investigating the company alleged to be behind one of the websites. The industry is divided about who is to blame for the spiralling problem of touts. Some industry figures have called on the government to toughen up on touts while others believe this responsibility should fall to the event organisers themselves. Richard Marks – CEO of online ticket exchange company Scarlet Mist – said promoters could reduce touting by allowing fans who cannot attend an event to get their money back. He said: “Promoters should provide
refunds because there are a lot of reasons why some tickets fall into the hands of touts and one is because there are people who have bought tickets who cannot go to the event but cannot get a refund either.” The secondary ticketing market was also condemned by Mark Hamilton – managing director of G4S Events – whose company commissioned research into the market revealing those who buy from these websites end up paying way over the odds for tickets. He added: “Purchasing tickets from unauthorised outlets really isn’t in the consumers’ best interests. Tickets bought in this way are likely to be highly over-priced and could even be fraudulent.” But the furious chairman of the Association of Secondary Ticket Agents Graham Burns insisted there is a place for the secondary ticketing market – providing agents operate ethically: “It is time the government endorsed the ASTA code and made it compulsory for everyone working in the secondary ticketing market to adopt a code of practice. Until that happens the public are put at risk.”
Promoters could lose millions
A homecoming event for Olympic Gold medallist Rebecca Adlington (pictured) has taken place in Mansfield – organised just two weeks after she won her second gold medal. With such little time to prepare the event, organisers Mansfield District Council used their tried and tested Christmas events strategy to ensure everything went to plan. Town centre events and promotion co-ordinator Lisa Vincent said: “I based preparation around the logistics used for the switching on of the Christmas lights. We didn’t know how many people to expect so all planning and preparation revolved around our festive strategy. I have been planning this Christmas since March and it’s usually a case of just tying up the loose ends in the last two weeks not planning the whole event, so we are all really pleased with how things went.” Full story, Page 9
PROMOTERS could lose out on millions as a result of people who deliberately enter events without paying, according to new research. A new study commissioned by G4S Security Services (UK) revealed the potentially huge losses the events industry faces with nearly one million people admitting to entering a festival, music or sports event without paying in the last five years. The research also suggested 16-24 year olds are the least concerned with avoiding ticket costs – 11 per cent of those questioned thought such behaviour was morally acceptable. Managing director of G4S Events Mark Hamilton said: “Revenue protection is a key concern for the music and sports industry. Unfortunately, many Britons do not regard it as morally reprehensible to enter an event without paying.” The Main Event is the official magazine of the National Outdoor Events Association