Viagogo agrees to UK competition authority demands on ticket resales

Ticket reseller Viagogo has advised that it has reached a “ground-breaking settlement” with the UK Competition and Markets Authority bringing an end to the legal dispute between the two parties.

Vowing to “overhaul the way it does business”, Viagogo has said it will publish face value ticket price information on its website after agreeing to comply with a court order issued following enforcement action by the UK’s competition watchdog.

With the two parties having been in dispute since 2012, the CMA began legal action against the company in August. The CMA had demanded that Viagogo must make a series of changes by mid-January or risk a resumption of enforcement proceedings.

A statement from Viagogo advised “the agreement with the CMA will enable buyers and sellers to exchange tickets with more transparency and additional information, such as Face Value, will be displayed on the website. It reflects a desire to ensure that the consumer has as much information as possible before making their purchase decision.”

Welcoming the settlement, a spokesperson for Viagogo advised “we are pleased that we have been able to work closely with the CMA to come to an agreement that provides even greater transparency to consumers.”

Adam Webb, Campaign Manager at the FanFair Alliance said Viagogo should have followed rivals such as StubHub in agreeing to make changes well before a court order was needed.

Webb stated “while the UK’s ticket resale market undergoes a long-awaited transformation, Viagogo has effectively become a rogue operator. That it’s required a court order to force their compliance with existing legislation is nothing short of extraordinary.

“Effectively, it means Viagogo have been given until mid-January to overhaul their bad practices. If they fail to do that, they should feel the full force of the law.”

Meanwhile, journalist Mark McGivern from Scottish newspaper the Daily Record mocked the company’s announcement about the development, with the company’s claim it had reached a “settlement” with the CMA.

McGivern, who has regularly covered stories about Viagogo, tweeted: “THIS isn’t an agreement - it’s a humiliating slapdown to a grubby company…. This press release uses same distortion Viagogo has applied to everything it does – proves they don’t give a damn…#toutsout”