SeatGeek Fined $22,500 by Ontario Government for Continuing to Violate Ticket Resale Laws

SeatGeek is facing two additional fines for violating Ontario ticket resale laws.

On Oct. 8, the major resale ticket platform was fined a total of $22,500, according to Ontario’s Consumer Beware List, a database that businesses are added to “when they fail to respond to consumer complaints or violate provincial consumer protection laws.”

The organization was fined $15,000 for facilitating the sale of a ticket that exceeded the resale price limit, and $7,500 for failing “to disclose the total ticket price” when the seat was “purchased from the primary seller.”

Per the list, no further details were given about the details of sale nor the primary seller.

Regarding the fines, Cameron Papp, a spokesperson for SeatGeek told The Canadian Press on Oct. 15 that they “are doing our best to comply” with the province’s new laws, but they “have yet to receive meaningful direction from the government on how to do so.”

The two recent fines come just under two months after SeatGeek was slapped with $25,000 in fines for failing to adhere to the province’s resale ticket guidelines.

In August, SeatGeek faced three administrative fines including $10,000 for making “a ticket available or facilitating the sale of a ticket [that] exceeded the resale price cap,” $5,000 for failing to disclose the total price of a ticket when purchased from the primary seller and $10,000 for facilitating a “sale without proof of total price when purchased from primary seller.”

A month later, StubHub, was hit with two $10,000 fines for allegedly selling tickets above face value and facilitating a transaction without having proof of the original price.

"We strongly disagree with this fine imposition of this administrative penalty order and will appeal," a spokesperson for StubHub told Billboard Canada, confirming that they wll be appealing the charges and seeking guidance from the province.

“The fact is we are upholding our responsibility as best we can despite the law’s silence on some core issues, like how a marketplace should verify the original price of a ticket,” they continued.

According to StubHub’s spokesperson, the government has acknowledged this discrepancy, but no official regulations have been made.

Although both resale sites have recently been fined, they are two of 27 that were investigated by the Ontario government in June for possible non-compliance with the recent implementation of Bill 97. It prohibits individuals or businesses from reselling tickets in Ontario for more than the total original cost, including service fees and taxes.

In April, the province passed the bill to cap resale ticket prices above face value after Ontario Premier Doug Ford claimed that resellers were "gouging" during last year’s World Series events. Ticketmaster adhered to the law, delisting all resale tickets and banning the practice on its Ontario platform.

Following this year’s World Cup, the maximum fine for resale sites was upped to $25,000 from $10,000 in Ontario, and businesses were notified that they would be added to the Consumer Beware List if they violated the law, which has been strictly enacted.