UK Government faces further push on secondary ticketing after Viagogo, StubHub, offices raided

News that the London offices of secondary ticketing sites Viagogo and StubHub were raided by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has seen the UK music industry step up its efforts for the Government to take tougher action against these companies.

The CMA began an investigation last December into the activities of Viagogo and StubHub – as well as Seatwave and Get Me In! both owned by Ticketmaster – to see if they breached the country’s consumer laws as widely suspected.

The National Trading Standards is conducting its own investigation into secondary ticketing, called Operation Electra.

News of the recent raids was first revealed by The Guardian newspaper.

It said that the raids came in the wake of the CMA’s demands for documented details of their ties with prominent ticket touts and if they held privilege positions of acquiring tickets for major concerts at the expense of music fans.

StarHub’s “top seller” program reportedly rewards those who sell over $5 million a year get a discount on their base fees (they pay 7% while others pay 10%.

Seatwave and Get Me In! cooperated but Viagogo and StubHub failed to hand over the relevant documents, The Guardian said.

FanFair Alliance, set up by the across-the-board UK music industry, called the reported raids by CMA a “welcome development.”

It said, “The UK is celebrated for its live music scene, and we should have the best and most transparent system of ticket resale – not a market polluted by these shabby and disgraceful practices.

“It is no secret that the model of so-called ‘secondary ticketing’ promoted by Viagogo, StubHub, Get Me In! and Seatwave has resulted in UK audiences being systematically ripped off on an industrial scale.

“Contrary to their slick marketing campaigns, these platforms are dominated by professional touts who are seemingly offered incentives to sell ever higher volumes of tickets.”

Labour MP Sharon Hodgson also called for more Government action, saying ticket reselling should be banned.

Hodgson, co-chairs a Parliamentary group on ticket abuse, had in 2011 brought an MPs bill which put a 10% cap on resale prices.

She has hardened her support, now stating that tinkering around the edges of this broken market” was over and it was time that the rogue traders be put out of business.

Revelations of offshore tax dodging practices by Paradise Papers alleged that prominent Canadian-based ticket scalper Julien Lavallee was involved in it while turning over millions of dollars a year through his now-defunct I Want Tickets company.

A report by Canada’s CBC News claimed that while tickets for Adele’s UK tour in 2016 had a four-tickets-per-customer policy, the company acquired 310 tickets with a face value of $50,000 with 23 minutes using 15 names and 12 addresses in three countries.

Hodgson said, “The uncovering of tax dodging by touts such as Lavallee shows exactly why this broken market must be fixed so fans are finally put first.”

She added that recent changes in UK law banning the use of the bot software in grabbing a huge volume of tickets when they went on sale, needed to be followed up with strong enforcement if they were to work.

Last month FanFair Alliance released the Ticked Off study which claimed that 80% of the UK population considered secondary ticketing a ”rip off” and 67% were considering attending fewer concerts.

Viagogo’s US founder is said to have made millions of dollars, living a lavish lifestyle with homes around the world valued at up to $15 million each.

Both the CMA and Viagogo have refused to comment on the latest media reports.

StubHub issued a statement, “We understand the CMA investigation is ongoing and therefore await the outcome of this.”