GAA FANS ARE being urged not to take the risk of buying tickets that are being sold above face value by online vendors, as moves have been made to cancel these tickets.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, GAA director of communications Alan Milton said that people who’ve paid “over the odds” online for tickets to the Dublin-Tyrone football semi-final won’t be able to gain access to Croke Park.
Also speaking on the programme, Fine Gael TD Noel Rock said that the GAA’s stance is welcome, and that legislation he had introduced would bring an end to this “price gouging”.
Yesterday, the GAA announced that it had cancelled a number of tickets for the Dublin and Tyrone game, which were being sold above face value by online vendors.
Tickets for the eagerly awaited contest quickly sold-out after they went on sale on Wednesday, before touts began advertising them at high prices on sites such as Seatwave.
Milton said that Seatwave was making “a profit on the back of ordinary supporters”.
“I see that as fundamentally wrong,” he said.
He said that a number of tickets had been cancelled and that he expected more to be cancelled before the match on 27 August.
In a statement to Morning Ireland, Seatwave said that it is a “safe and secure marketplace” which provides a chance for fans who missed out on tickets to attend the game.
It added that sellers set the price on its site, not Seatwave.
Ahead of the upcoming Ed Sheeran gigs in Ireland next year, promoters went to new lengths in a bid to ensure that tickets weren’t sold for multiples of the face value with online vendors.
One statement from Aiken Promotions said:
Ed and his team have a strict stance against anyone using secondary ticketing websites for profit. On this tour, any tickets that are resold will not be valid – this means no profit to touts and no one getting ripped off.
“Great to see”
Dublin North West TD Rock said that the action taken by the GAA sends out an important signal.
“It’s actually great to see tangible action on this matter,” he said.
Gouging will not be tolerated. Real fans should get the tickets at face value.
Rock said the legislation he had brought forward would see an end to above-face value selling, and that it is something that the Irish people supported.
“We commissioned a polling firm to see how the Irish public feels about it,” he said, “and 86% of people said they did”.
Milton said that the GAA welcomed the forthcoming legislation, adding that it would go a “long way”.
“Where we are at the moment is totally inadequate,” he said.
The Fine Gael TD added that he believed that there was a more professional ticket touting operation at work in Ireland than had previously been the case.
“It’s not someone outside the ground in a trench coat anymore,” he said.
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