Scalpers banned from selling tickets at inflated prices after legal loophole closure

Inflated ticket prices for major sporting events will be a thing of the past in Victoria after a law change put the brakes on greedy scalpers.

A loophole allowing scalpers to sell tickets to sports events, concerts and theatre shows at hugely inflated prices has been closed in an update of Victorian laws.

Ticket touts will be banned from bundling tickets to events such as the AFL grand final and Australian Open with food and drink packages or accommodation to get around strict scalping laws.

The law change, weeks before the start of the AFL season, is to stop scalpers advertising misleading hospitality packages at prices substantially higher than face value.

It comes after some secondary ticket sellers bypassed restrictions on selling tickets to major events for more than 10 per cent above face value by adding a voucher for a hamburger or drink to the sale.

The revised laws will stop punters from being ripped off. Picture: Michael Klein

Major Events Minister Martin Pakula said the changes were expected to come into effect before Essendon’s Anzac Day blockbuster against Collingwood at the MCG.

“We’re protecting fans from overpaying dodgy operators who sell tickets at inflated prices by packaging them up with meagre hospitality or merchandise add ons,’’ he said.

“These changes will help to prevent fans from being ripped off trying to see their favourite team or band play live.”

The new laws make it an offence to advertise or sell a ticket package to a declared event without the written authorisation of the organiser, with fines of up to $10,904 for individuals and $54,522 for companies.

It will be an offence for a company or individual to falsely claim they are permitted to sell tickets alongside additional inclusions, such as food, drink or accommodation.

And ticket resellers will be required to provide the original face value of the seat being offered for resale and information about where it is located.

While official tickets to the Australian Open women’s final were sold from $325 in January, sites such as Viagogo advertised them from between $591 and $1006 under a “ticket and meal package’’ including a drink, pizza, burger or salad.

Scalpers will be banned from selling ticket bundles at inflated prices for major sporting events in Victoria.

Geoff Jones, chief executive of Ticketek owner TEG, applauded the new laws.

“It will help prevent fans from being ripped off by scalpers and help ensure fans get the kind of quality hospitality experience they expect by buying through an authorised seller, such as Ticketek,’’ he said.

Since June 2018, 4552 listings involving 20,649 tickets have been removed from reselling websites after intervention by authorised officers.

It comes as official AFL ticket seller Ticketek urged fans raring to return to the footy to be patient as seats went on sale from Tuesday, declaring websites could handle an expected surge.

“Ticketek reassures fans buying tickets that if they see a page telling them are in the queue for tickets, that the Ticketek website is up and running,’’ it said in a statement.

“To ensure fair and equitable access to tickets fans may be queued while other fans buy tickets and will be allocated the best available purchase session.’’

It advised fans not to refresh their screen if they hit a queue page online.