UP388 The Ticket Market Doesn't Work - Will Labour Regulation Make It Better?

Unofficial Partner Podcast

Everyone agrees the current sports ticketing market doesn't work. It rips off fans, is vulnerable to touts and is an inefficient way to manage supply and demand.
But is regulation the answer?
Labour will cap the resale prices of tickets and regulate resale platforms if the party wins the next general election, Sir Keir Starmer said recently. The plans will clamp down on ticket touts who rip off music and sports fans going to live events, Sir Keir said.
The party says it will address ticket touting – buying up tickets to sell on at inflated profits – by capping resale prices and giving the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) powers to regulate resale platforms.
A strong pre-election soundbite, after all who doesn't want cheaper tickets.
This podcast discusses the second level implications of regulation and uses it as a way in to assess the problem with the ticket market, one of the key pillars of sports revenue generation and asset value.
Our guests are Simon Bazalgette and Matt Drew.
Simon was chief executive of The Jockey Club during a long career across sport and music industries, and now chairs investment and advisory business called Global Venue Services.
Matt leads on overseas development for Viagogo/Stubhub, the secondary ticket marketplace, having held senior roles at Perform, DAZN, OPTA and WWE.

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