The resale of tickets for sporting and cultural events at sky high prices could be set to become a thing of the past thanks to a new Bill making its way through Parliament.

Washington and Sunderland West MP Sharon Hodgson today announced she intends to promote the Sale of Tickets Bill under the Private Member’s Bill procedure.

The rapid rise of online ticket sales for most major gigs and sporting events has lead to the creation of a huge market for secondary tickets with some specialist organisations offering front row seats for hundreds of pounds a time. The new Bill will seek to prevent the organised resale of tickets for profit by stopping anybody from selling tickets greatly above face value. It is hoped that these measures will encourage the further growth of popular regulated ticket exchange websites where fans can swop or sell tickets to each other at face value and ensure that everybody has an equal chance of getting to the gig or game of their dreams.

Mrs Hodgson, who successfully steered the Special Educational Needs (Information) Act onto the statute book in 2008 said:

“This is about restoring fairness to our entertainment and sports industry. There was a time when we all had to queue up at the Box Office to get tickets to see big bands or popular theatre shows. It didn’t matter how much money you had in your wallet, as long as you had enough to buy a ticket. I don’t think it is right or fair that the increase in online ticket sales has given a greedy few the chance to capitalise on the excitement and enthusiasm which these events generate by making themselves a quick buck.

We don’t want to stop people from selling tickets at face value but we do want to stop this situation whereby if you have the money you can simply jump the queue at the last minute by using ‘premium’ ticket vendors without a thought for the person who wanted to buy the ticket months ago before they were all bought up. ”

Going to a big gig or a big game is something which should give people special memories. I know youngsters in my constituency who save up their pocket money or their wages for weeks on end in order to be able to afford tickets to see big acts at the Metro Radio Arena.

We need to make sure that it is the genuine fans who are getting hold of tickets as well as making sure that all of the profits from such events find their way back to the artists or sports involved – not the back pocket of an online rogue trader who simply uses them to buy more tickets for more events and hike up prices even further.”

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Sharon Hodgson MP
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E-mail: hodgsons@parliament.uk

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