Seatwave research says
fans pay too much and there is no VAT collected, calls on
government to liberalise football ticket resale
laws
14 April 2011 - LONDON - New
research, released today by Seatwave.com, estimates the Treasury is
being deprived of £129m per year due to the lack of a legal and
transparent football ticket resale mechanism.
Currently, the resale of England and Premier League football
tickets is prohibited in England and Wales as part of the 1994
Public Order Act, which was designed to limit hooliganism through
the segregation of fans. However, new research from Seatwave shows
that as a result of these restrictions, millions of pounds is lost
in VAT each year through tickets sold on the black market while the
threat of hooliganism has largely subsided.
Every year an estimated 4.7 million Premiership and England
football tickets are resold in the UK on the black market, and with
the total ticket value in excess of £562m, £129m is lost from
unpaid VAT.
The research from Seatwave shows that the Government could
provide fans access to the best football in the world in a safe and
secure environment and at market-based pricing while delivering
real value to the Treasury through the liberalisation of football
resale laws.
Joe Cohen, founder and CEO of Seatwave, commented: "The current
restrictions against football ticket resale have created a black
market where fans have neither protection against dodgy sellers or
pricing power. Seatwave's proposal would provide football
fans with great access to more games and be a boon for VAT
collection at a time when government has nothing but lint in its
purse."
Seatwave customers have successfully exchanged more than 1
million tickets for concerts, other sporting events and cultural
events through its market-leading ticket exchange, www.seatwave.com. Every
purchase on Seatwave is covered by TicketIntegrity™ which provides
a 100% guarantee that customers get exactly what they bought.
"There are a number of fundamental issues with the way that
tickets for sports events are distributed and resold in the UK.
This is an issue that spans football, rugby, cricket and, most
visibly, the Olympics. In many cases the regulations simply
encourage illegal touting.
"At Seatwave, we are advocating a transparent, floating price
exchange for all sporting events, which would provide fans with a
clear, fair and simple way to exchange sports tickets in exactly
the same way they are able to for concerts. We are calling on the
government and the FA to review its position on ticketing to enable
a better service for fans and ensure VAT is paid to the Treasury,"
added Cohen.
-ENDS-
For more information please contact:
Charlotte Hastings
E: Charlotte.hastings@sevenhillsgroup.co.uk
T: +44 (0)207 199 2200
Henrietta Walsh
E: Henrietta.walsh@sevenhillsgroup.co.uk
About Seatwave
Seatwave is Europe's leading online fan-to-fan ticket
exchange service offering tickets for concerts, theatre,
sports and other live events. Seatwave was founded by Joe Cohen,
formerly of Match.com and Ticketmaster, in May 2006
and began online trading in February 2007.