Stamp out the scalpers

IT happens every year, and fans are sick of being ripped off. Price gouging in the secondary market for AFL finals tickets has to be addressed urgently.

Sports Minister John Eren has slammed online offerings of finals tickets.

IT happens every year, and fans are sick of being ripped off.

Price gouging in the secondary market for AFL finals tickets has to be addressed urgently.

The South Australian government last week reacted to public pressure by declaring Thursday’s first qualifying final (Crows v GWS) and Saturday’s first elimination final (Port v Eagles) at the Adelaide Oval as “major events”.

Under that state’s laws, the declaration makes it illegal for scalpers to sell tickets at mark-ups of greater than 10 per cent in the secondary market.

Meanwhile, the Andrews Government has resisted using its power to invoke the same protection for Victorian fans.

Sports Minister John Eren has slammed online offerings of tickets for more than $500 for Friday’s sold-out second qualifying final at the MCG between Geelong and Richmond, but has failed to act and is hamstrung by the current 60-day period required for a “major event” declaration.

Tickets on Ticketmaster Resale are being offered at more than 11 times face value and Viagogo is carrying tickets for up to $400 plus handling fees and taxes.

At present, only the AFL Grand Final is fully covered by Victoria’s anti-scalping legislation as a “major event”.

Mr Eren should declare all future finals a “major event” to protect fans paying extortionate rates on the secondary market and roll out the tougher penalties and comprehensive legislation already drafted in the Major Sporting Events Act.

The AFL and the Victorian government need to protect football’s heartland community which underpins the competition — not the corporate resellers and scalpers looking for an easy payday on the back of desperate fans and emotion.

Laws need to reflect the challenges posed by automated ticket purchasing across a range of sports and entertainment markets. Unless our politicians get ahead of the technology, the community will continue paying a high price.

Right across the AFL season, it should be illegal to commercially market tickets at more than original face value. There is no public benefit gained from allowing a commercial secondary market — which aims, not at giving people a second chance at attending hugely popular or sold-out events, but at simply ripping them off — to thrive.

Certainly, supply and demand as an economic principle dictates price — but what we have seen over past years is the growth of mass ticket purchasing simply to profit from those who fail to secure a seat on the primary market.

The AFL needs to respond effectively to its fan base. And this includes dropping the end of the home-and-away season bye before the finals. Only 38 per cent of people want to retain the pre-finals bye, according to the Herald Sun footy fans survey conducted this year.

Depending on the finals make-up, a bye may also give some teams outside the top four an added advantage, although potentially making for closer competition.

One thing is for sure, the bye acts as a brake on the finals intensity, just as momentum should be building.

LOCAL TV INDUSTRY BLOW

THE Logies are a Melbourne institution and — love or hate the event — it helps underline Victoria as a major player in the important TV, film and entertainment industry.

The Herald Sun yesterday revealed the Victorian government had dumped its $1 million funding support for the Logie Awards, TV’s so-called night of nights.

This is from a government which thought little of burning up to $1.2 billion to not build the East West Link, a much-needed priority arterial to get the state moving.

Given its half-century history, with 54 of the 59 award ceremonies being hosted in Melbourne, the government’s decision to turn its back on the Logies seems ill-considered.

Victoria’s arts and culture sector, which includes television and film, is worth more than $6 billion and employs thousands of people while 53 per cent of Australian TV drama production expenditure in 2015 was spent in Victoria. We already face stiff competition from other states for film and TV investment — handing NSW or Queensland the Logies makes little sense.

While many of the industry’s big names, from Bert Newton to Karl Stefanovic, slammed the withdrawal of support, a general public consensus of ambivalence emerged.

There’s no surprise that — from a viewing perspective and as an event — the Logies has been perceived as stale for some time.

But rather than rejuvenate and support, to make it again the glamorous celebration and recognition of performance it was, Victoria will lose out in the competitive entertainment industry.

While no one is deserving of a blank cheque, the Andrews Government should have worked to insist the organisers, Channel 9, Crown and Bauer Media, elevated the event’s quality and standing to relaunch it as a showcase for Victorian and Australian TV talent.