Manitoba vs. secondary ticket sellers: New laws coming. Eventually.

Scalpers are in the news a lot lately, what with all the controversies involving Ticketmaster, Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Eurovision, and the Foo Fighters. Usually such chatter dies down after a few weeks without anything being done. This time, though, we’re seeing some baby steps to curb the resale of concert tickets.

Manitoba is considering a bill that will do two things. The first (and stay with me on this) will lift the provincial ban on reselling tickets at higher prices. Why? Because the current law doesn’t work. Ticket resellers outside the province (say, StubHub in Ontario) have been buying and selling for concerts within the province and they’re beyond the government’s legal reach.

Second, new laws are being considered to replace the old ineffective measures. James Teitsma, the minister for consumer protection, says the government is looking at new rules like banning bots. (BC has had a similar law since 2021.)

Manitoba is small potatoes when it comes to the wider world of reselling tickets, but every little bit helps.

(Via Tom and CTV)