Industry bodies and representatives from across the live events industry have shared their collective disappointment toward the Labour government for not including a definitive bill to combat reselling tickets above face value in today’s King’s Speech (13 May).
This comes after a proposed bill from the government, announced in November 2025, which said that “music and sport fans [would] no longer be ripped off on the ticket resale market.”
The proposal went on to say that “resale tickets to be £37 cheaper on average, saving fans collectively £112 million per year,” and that these measures “will end business model of industrial-scale ticket touting.”
Labour’s original proposal would have also made it illegal to resell tickets for live events above face value and cap service fees. However, this has now been relegated to a draft bill, coined the ‘draft Ticket Tout Ban Bill’. A draft bill means that it will require further consultation and pre-legislative work to be passed, potentially resulting in delay.
As reported by NME, Ticketmaster UK’s managing director Sarah Slater said: “No definitive legislative action to stop ticket touts profiteering is disappointing. Ticketmaster voluntarily capped resale prices at face value back in 2018 and continues to invest in protecting fans with safer digital tickets, stronger bot detection, clearer pricing and better information in the queue.”
As long as touts are allowed to make huge profits reselling tickets on other platforms, the problem will continue.”
Jon Collins, CEO of LIVE, responded to the bill by saying: “We welcomed the prime minister’s promise last year to crack down on ticket touts, but a draft bill means unnecessary delay that will see fans being fleeced of at least £500 million.
Fans have waited long enough. There is no need for further consultation – the evidence and support for action are already overwhelming. The Government must now move forward with the legislation as quickly as possible and not lose sight of why it is being introduced, which is to end the ticket touting scandal and protect fans.”
Industry body Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) also commented on the scale of the King’s Speech to target the cost of living and the night time economy.
Michael Kill, CEO of the NTIA, said: “We welcome the focus on reducing the cost of living, improving transport affordability, and supporting young people into employment. Measures such as capping bus fares, investing in youth employment, and reforming planning and infrastructure have the potential to positively impact our sector, but only if they are delivered at pace and with real intent.
However, we must be clear, efforts to reduce the cost of living cannot come at the expense of businesses already operating on extremely tight margins. There is a real risk that the burden of affordability is inadvertently shifted onto operators through rising costs, regulation, and taxation. That is not sustainable, and it will ultimately undermine the very communities these policies aim to support.“
