Japanese promoters’ association, the All Japan Concert and Live Entertainment Promoters Conference (ACPC) has issued a statement outlining their stance on touting, commenting that: “Ticket touting will not disappear tomorrow. From better education for consumers to strong enforcement, we will tackle the issue from all angles to help establish a fair ticketing system that truly puts fans first.”
The statement describes the secondary ticketing market as one of the events promotion industry’s most pressing issues and calls for a holistic approach to achieve “a healthy ticketing system worldwide.”
This follows the introduction of new anti-touting legislation in Japan last December, which bans ticket touting online and outside venues for events where the promoter has prohibited resale, as well as banning touts from buying tickets with the purpose of reselling them. Breaking this law is punishable with a fine of up to ¥1 million or one year in prison, or both. This is particularly timely given upcoming major sporting events in Japan: the Rugby World Cup starts in September 2019 and the Olympics begins in July 2020.
ACPC chair Takeo Nakanishi commented that he commends the work that FEAT is doing “to encourage better legislation in Europe”.
FEAT director Sam Shemtob commented that the alliance “support[s] the ACPC in their work towards preventing ticket touting in Japan at this pivotal time, and are delighted by the impact new anti-touting legislation will no doubt have.“We are confident that, as the live events industry and governments work together, a fairer ticket resale market can be achieved globally.”