As Toronto continues its ‘Love Story’ with Taylor Swift and the Eras Tour, set to head next week to British Columbia, some are urging action over allegations of price-gouging by resellers and ticketing practices that have left some fans with ‘Bad Blood.’
On sites like StubHub, a single ticket for Taylor Swift’s Friday concert in Toronto is at minimum $4,654, while on SeatGeek it’s $4,500 for the 500-level seats.
Some have been priced as high as $33,000.
That’s not including Ticketmaster where you need a fan code to get one of the tickets made recently available for the same-day show. But those prices are why politicians like NDP MP Brian Masse are calling for action by governments to prevent future concert-goers from facing sky-high prices.
“Going to a concert or an event is sometimes a special moment for family and friends and people even save for months to be able to go and then to have it ripped from your ability to get there because of this type of structure is just not fair,” Masse said in an interview.
A petition has also been launched federally this week, backed by Green MP Mike Morris, calling on the federal government to examine other countries’ related legislation around banning ticket resales above face-value and a cap on how high they can be resold.
That petition calls for a “reasonable package of measures” to decrease the volume of listings of tickets being resold for profit, while regulating market practices such as the use of “deceptive websites and speculative ticket listings.”
It’s not just Taylor Swift tickets being resold or restricted, either.
Allegations of restricted access or price gouging by either the various ticketing companies or resellers has been a common practice for years, with tickets for music concerts, comedy shows and sports games skyrocketing.
A big issue in Canada, according to business and law associate professor Daniel Tsai, is that Ticketmaster and its parent company LiveNation “control” the primary market for ticket sales, while also having some control over the resale market as well.
“There is lack of regulations and no competition that’s allowed one big dominant force, LiveNation Ticketmaster, to control the concert and entertainment and sporting ticket industry,” Tsai said.
He added surge pricing, when tickets go in high demand, means Canadians and other buyers are left “paying a fortune” either for the original tickets or on the resale market.
In a letter to Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, Masse called on the federal government to launch an investigation into Ticketmaster and the ticketing industry and take “immediate action” to crack down on scalper bots and resellers by working with the provinces and territories to ensure a “universal” change.
Among the changes he’d like to see would be limited resale capabilities for special events, and a limited markup on tickets controlled similar to what’s seen in other countries.
According to the Face-Value European Alliance for Ticketing, which advocates for tickets to be resold for no more than their original price, places like Portugal and Denmark have made it illegal for tickets to be sold above face-value.
An unauthorized resell of a ticket in France, if not done through the promoter or authorized ticket platforms, can lead to a fine of up to EUR15,000.
Masse said work should be done with provinces to determine a standard number, but he would prefer to see those reselling tickets limited to no more than five per cent above the original price.
Global News reached out to Champagne’s office for comment on the letter as well as if the federal government is planning actions on ticket price gouging, but did not hear back by publication.
It’s not just at the federal level, either. Ontario NDP MPP Krystyn Wong-Tam has introduced a motion calling on the provincial government to consult with stakeholders and investigate to create a system to end price gouging.
“Fans are paying the price for Ontario government inaction on ticket resale racket,” Wong-Tam said.
Ontario tried to put in place a resale price cap of no more than 50 per cent above face value in 2017, however it was paused after Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives came to power.
The federal government in its 2024 Budget said it would work with provinces and territories and encourage the adoption of best practice requirements for ticket sales, including transparency around unexpected charges and cracking down on “reseller practices which unfairly drive up prices,” such as through bot technology.
Tsai says more needs to be done, suggesting the Competition Bureau of Canada should order a breakup of LiveNation Ticketmaster to allow for competition in the market.
Asked if it was considering a probe into companies like Ticketmaster, or if price gouging and control over prices constitutes anti-competitive behaviour, the Competition Bureau of Canada said it enforces the Competition Act, including provisions around price-fixing and abuse of dominant positions.
“The Competition Bureau is not a price regulator, and companies are generally free to set the price level at which they sell their products,” a spokesperson wrote in an email. “Only the provinces and territories have rules related to price-gouging in Canada.”
Earlier this year, the U.S. took action against Ticketmaster and LiveNation, suing both and accusing them of running an illegal monopoly over live events and asking a court to break up the system.
— with files from The Associated Press