Ontario Premier Doug Ford has expressed concern over the high resale prices of Blue Jays World Series tickets following swift sellouts of home game tickets. Fans were dismayed by the exorbitant prices of resale tickets, reaching thousands of dollars, shortly after the tickets went on sale for Game 1 scheduled in Toronto on Friday.
Ford stated that he is reviewing the situation, emphasizing his disapproval of what he perceives as price gouging by ticket sellers. He criticized the control exerted by a single entity in the ticket market, labeling it as unfair to consumers.
Ticketmaster responded by acknowledging the public’s worries about inflated World Series ticket prices but clarified that they do not determine the resale prices, which are set by various individual sellers.
In a related development, Ford’s government had revoked a provision of a law established by the previous Liberal administration in 2019 that would have limited ticket resale prices to 50% above the original face value. Opposition NDP Leader Marit Stiles urged the government to reinstate this measure, citing a similar request made during the Taylor Swift concert ticket sales.
Issues surrounding ticket sales have been a recurring concern, with the Liberal government initially introducing legislation to combat “scalper bots” following incidents like fans missing out on the Tragically Hip’s farewell tour in 2016.
Ticket resale platform StubHub cautioned against strict control of the market, warning that it could drive resales into the black market. The Liberals have called on the government to reintroduce their resale price cap policy, criticizing Ford for the current situation.
Separately, Ticketmaster recently pledged to crack down on large-scale scalpers using multiple fake accounts to purchase and resell tickets for various events. This move follows a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission against Ticketmaster and Live Nation over alleged illegal ticket resale practices.
The ongoing debate over ticket sales policies and practices continues to draw attention, particularly in light of the high demand for Blue Jays World Series tickets.