The government must urgently address the growing concerns surrounding fair access to event tickets, particularly given Ticketmaster’s near-monopoly in the UK ticketing industry. Although current regulations address some concerns, they do not fully resolve the issues outlined in this petition. Therefore, further changes are necessary.

In recent years, Ticketmaster has gained substantial control over ticket sales, allowing them not only to facilitate the resale of tickets at inflated prices, but also to arbitrarily increase original ticket prices based on perceived market demand rather than the face value set by event organisers. This behaviour has been repeatedly seen during ticket sales for artists like Dua Lipa, Arctic Monkeys, Harry Styles, and even today’s Oasis sale.

These practices have made it increasingly difficult for average consumers to afford tickets to their favourite events, as prices can skyrocket unpredictably. This legislation should aim to protect consumers by ensuring that tickets are sold at their original, intended price and by banning unjustified price hikes that exploit high demand. Live events should be accessible to everyone, but currently, it has become nearly impossible to obtain tickets for popular artists due to bots buying up tickets and artificial price increases reflecting perceived market value.

As the official UK Government Petitions website is currently not accepting new petitions, this petition has been started here to address these urgent issues.