Ontario’s World Cup matches have come and gone, but ticket resale platforms seem to be ignoring a new price cap law without facing any penalties from the province.
This law prohibits reselling Ontario concert and sports tickets for prices above their original value. It took effect in April, just ahead of six World Cup games that Toronto was set to host.
The last of Toronto’s matches concluded on Thursday, with major ticket resellers Stub Hub, Seat Geek, and Vivid Seats admitting they’re not following the new regulations, partly because they’re still trying to understand it all.
However, it appears that the province hasn’t fined any of these violators yet.
As of Friday, there were no fines or charges listed against the two ticket companies-Stub Hub and Seat Geek-on a provincial website aimed at alerting the public about companies breaking laws.
The province hasn’t confirmed if any fines have been issued. Cristian Buzo Tingarov, a spokesperson for the minister responsible for public service delivery and procurement, mentioned, “We will not hesitate to hold bad actors who break the rules accountable.”
When asked about when fines might happen, Hannah Jensen, a spokesperson for Premier Doug Ford, stated that anyone on the government’s consumer beware list who doesn’t comply will incur a fine.
“The timeline is clear: no compliance = a fine,” she wrote in an email.
When the province introduced this new ticket law in springtime, it promised penalties up to $10,000 for repeat offenders. These potential penalties increased to $25,000 in June as the World Cup approached.
The government also indicated that non-compliant businesses could face court-ordered fines reaching up to $50,000 for individuals and $250,000 for corporations.
“What we’re seeing with the World Cup is that this is mostly just a symbolic piece of legislation,” said David Clement from the Consumer Choice Centre.
“It’s unmanageable; it’s unenforceable. Regardless of how much they may want to raise fines, implementing this seriously is really tough.”
Clement explained that resale websites struggle to determine a ticket’s face value because most original sales don’t go through their own platform.
“While Ticketmaster argues every buyer gets a receipt showing what they paid,” he noted that those documents can easily be altered which creates challenges for resale sites.
The platforms cited confusion regarding compliance with the law or concerns over its structure when asked why they weren’t adhering to it.
A Stub Hub spokesperson named Jack Sterne said in an email his company has ongoing issues about what proof sellers need to provide regarding verifying a ticket’s original price.
Emailing separately from Seat Geek was vice-president Joe Freeman who mentioned they are still working out their compliance obligations while seeking meaningful guidance from authorities.
A representative from Vivid Seats named Julia Young stated her company has corrected nearly all areas where non-compliance was pointed out by Ontario officials.
“We expect to be compliant this month,” she added in an email while mentioning discussions are ongoing with provincial authorities on meeting requirements.
Latterly in April and early May 27 ticket resale websites-including Stub Hub and Seat Geek-received letters from Ontario stating they’d be inspected for compliance purposes.
This process involved an initial call where general information about their selling practices would be gathered before requesting additional records later on.
The letter warned businesses failure to cooperate could lead to enforcement actions being taken against them.
After those letters went out , Seat Geek and Stub Hub were added onto Ontario ‘ s consumer beware list due lack of adherence. The entries haven ‘ t seen updates indicating any fines so far.
Clement remarked this indicates regulations serve more as an attempt at achieving “public relations wins” prior To The World Cup , suggesting similar instances will occur during future major events held In Ontario.
“If The Toronto Maple Leafs find success And make playoffs again , This Will continue. Similarly If The Toronto Blue Jays excel In Their playoff pursuit or reach The World Series once more , And Likewise For The Toronto Raptors ,” he argued.
“This legislation’s unenforceability will keep resurfacing consistently.”
– With files from Allison Jones And Liam Casey
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