Ontario Names And Shames Two Ticket Resellers It Alleges Broke New Rules

Ontario is naming and shaming two ticket reseller sites the government alleges broke its new ticket sales rules.

The government has added SeatGeek and StubHub to its consumer beware list and said it has given the companies compliance orders, though it has not said which rules the companies are alleged to have broken.

New ticket sales rules took effect this year, including a ban on re-selling tickets above their original face value.

Both companies say they have been making good-faith efforts to comply with the law and have been working with the government.

“Over the past seven weeks, we have been seeking guidance on key details that are fundamental to compliance, such as what constitutes acceptable proof of a ticket’s original price,” StubHub wrote in a statement.

“We received partial answers to these questions today and are continuing to work with the ministry toward full compliance.”

SeatGeek’s vice-president of government affairs said it has not yet received “meaningful direction” on how to comply with the new law.

“Despite that, we have taken proactive steps to notify third-party sellers listing tickets on our platform that Ontario’s law is in effect and that they are expected to comply,” Joe Freeman wrote in a statement.

“For secondary marketplaces like SeatGeek, one of the challenges is that many sellers, such as season ticket holders, do not have access to the original face value of their tickets. This is information that only a primary ticketer like Ticketmaster would have, and Ticketmaster has not been forthcoming with that information.”

The law cements Ticketmaster’s “dominance” over Ontario’s live event ticketing market, Freeman wrote.

Ticketmaster did not immediately reply to a request for comment.