The UK Government is poised to introduce a significant crackdown on ticket touting, with plans to make the unauthorised reselling of tickets for major events, such as the 2028 Uefa European football championship, a criminal offence.
The initiative is central to a broader strategy aimed at positioning the UK as the preferred destination for hosting international sporting spectacles.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said that these proposed legislative changes are designed to simplify the process for the UK to bid for, secure, and successfully deliver large-scale events.
A new sporting framework is currently under development, intended to meet the specific requirements of international federations and event owners.
The Government is actively considering potential bids to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the 2040s, as well as golf’s Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup in the 2030s.
Any future Olympic bid, the first since London 2012, would involve a careful assessment of potential costs, socioeconomic benefits, and the likelihood of success, the DCMS said.
The government has already pledged its support for bids to host the World Athletics and Para-Athletics Championships in 2029.
By moving to outlaw unauthorised resales for certain events, the Government hopes to crack down on “exploitative” touts so more tickets are sold to fans at face value.
It comes ahead of the European Championship, which will take place across the UK and Ireland in 2028, and follows a Bill backed by the Scottish Parliament designed to restrict ticket resales for the competition.
The Uefa European Championship (Scotland) Bill will ban the unauthorised sale of Euros tickets for more than the face value, or with a view to making a profit.
It will also make ticket touting and unauthorised street trading and advertising illegal, as well as grant powers to enforce such offences.
If the Government is successful in its bid to host the 2035 Fifa Women’s World Cup, it could also become one of the events covered by new ticket resale rules, DCMS said.
The affordability of tickets for this year’s Fifa World Cup, co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico from 11 June to 19 July, has drawn criticism, including from Scotland’s First Minister.
On Tuesday, John Swinney wrote to football governing body Fifa urging it to introduce a “fair, affordable” ticketing model.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “Sport brings our country together like nothing else – and never more so than when we welcome the world’s biggest major events.
“From London 2012 right through to the record-breaking Women’s Rugby World Cup we hosted last summer, we’ve proven ourselves to be outstanding hosts time and time again.
“This Government is committed and ambitious.
“We want to continue attracting the most prestigious events in sport so that people all over the country can enjoy the whole range of economic and social benefits they bring for generations to come, showing the best of Britain to the world.”
There have been concerns the Government’s pledge to ban ticket touting will be left out of the King’s Speech on May 13.
In November, it announced plans to make it illegal to resell tickets to concerts, theatre, comedy, sport and other live events for more than their original cost.
A Government spokesperson previously said it remains committed to stamping out ticket touting “once and for all”.
