News November 25, 2018

German court bans the resale of Rammstein tickets on Viagogo

A German court has banned the resale of Rammstein tickets via controversial ticketing site Viagogo, though the order appears to have been ignored so far.

Earlier this month, theatrical German industrial legends Rammstein announced a large-scale tour of Europe for 2019. With a new record on the way, fans quickly snapped these tickets up, with 800,000 tickets being sold in just a matter of hours.

Despite efforts by Promoters MCT Agenteur to limit the resale of tickets by only allowing them to appear on Eventim’s FanSALE, and secondary resale site MunchenTicket, many of these sought-after tickets made their way to Viagogo.

Now, as Alt Press notes, following a ruling made in a German court, Viagogo have been forbidden to “allow the sale of tickets for the 2019 Rammstein stadium concerts in Germany”, as well as to “assert that they are valid tickets for entry”.

“The band is pleased that the district court of Hamburg has agreed with our [arguments] and issued the ban,” Rammstein explained in a statement.

“The court’s decision is a warning signal to anyone who thinks they can resell massively overpriced and invalid Rammstein tickets.”

Despite this ruling, tickets to Rammstein’s upcoming tour are still listed on Viagogo’s website, with many being listed for upwards of $900 each.

While it remains to be seen just how successful this court ruling will be, and if it will indeed halt the sale of tickets on the controversial site, it’s setting a positive precedence for other countries to follow along with.

Over the last year, we’ve seen numerous attempts made in an effort to stand up to the site, with campaigners urging Google to sever advertising ties with Viagogo, and the New Zealand Commerce Commission taking Viagogo to court under the Fair Trading Act.