“We continue to work with the CMA to meet the established conditions of our merger with StubHub, including the divestment of StubHub’s international business, and hope to see resolution in the near term,” a Viagogo spokesperson tells Billboard. The CMA valued it considerably lower at £350 million ($467 million) in 2019 when around 1.9 million tickets were sold across online secondary platforms in the U.K. Viagogo and StubHub say it is worth up to £2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) a year. ![]() ![]() UK Parliament Inquiry Recommends 'Complete Reset’ of Streaming BusinessĪlthough the CMA has never publicly set a deadline for when Viagogo must sell its international StubHub business, the regulator has the power to appoint an independent trustee to handle the transaction - therefore leaving Viagogo out of negotiations - if a buyer cannot be found.Īnother obstacle to any sale is the wildly different valuations for how much the secondary ticket market is worth in the U.K. secondary market will be unwelcome news for Viagogo CEO Eric Baker and his investors. The threat of tougher regulations for the U.K. A sale, which the CMA must approve, has yet to happen. and international ticketing business, which operates in Europe, South America, and Asia. To address those competition concerns, the CMA instructed Viagogo to sell StubHub’s U.K. secondary ticketing business, where the two firms collectively represent over 90% of the market (split roughly 60% and 30% between Viagogo and StubHub, respectively). Viagogo completed its $4 billion acquisition of fellow resale ticketing site StubHub from former owner eBay in February 2020 - one month before the coronavirus pandemic brought the global live industry to a standstill.Ī badly timed deal got even worse 12 months later when the CMA ruled that the merger “will lead to a substantial reduction in competition” in the U.K. “Without reforms to the way that the uncapped secondary tickets market is regulated, problems in the sector are likely to grow as restrictions on attending live events are lifted,” the CMA says in the 60-page report. He is calling on the government to take tougher action. Will Anyone Buy It?īut under current legislation there are “limits” to what the CMA and other enforcers can do to stop illegal ticket sales online, says George Lusty, senior director for Consumer Protection at the CMA. Viagogo Ordered to Sell StubHub's Non-US Business. The secondary ticket market has already been the subject of numerous investigations and court orders. The CMA’s report comes six months after it ordered Viagogo to offload its StubHub business outside of North America following an investigation into complaints of unfair competition. Among the proposed sanctions is the taking down of websites, withdrawing a businesses’ right to operate, and the imposition of “substantial fines.” The latter would make it easier for regulators to act swiftly against illegal ticket resellers and issue sanctions where required, the CMA says in a report published Aug. The CMA also wants legislation that will make platforms liable for incorrect information about ticket listings, as well as the establishment of a new regulatory body overseeing the secondary ticketing sector. ![]() government watchdog, is calling for the government to amend existing consumer laws and make it illegal for ticket resellers to sell more tickets for an event than primary vendors allow. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), a U.K. LONDON – The U.K.’s uncapped secondary ticketing market is facing further intervention from regulators, including the possibility of tougher rules for resale sites like Viagogo and StubHub.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |