As Toronto Blue Jays tickets are resold for thousands of dollars, Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his government may revive anti-scalping legislation it previously killed shortly after assuming office.
“My personal opinion, going to talk to the whole team, they’re gouging the people,” he told reporters on Wednesday afternoon. “We have one player in the market that controls the tickets, that’s not right for the people.”
Asked if he’d consider legislation specifically, Ford said his government would look at the option.
Ford’s comments come a day after Blue Jays World Series tickets went on sale on Ticketmaster. Less than two hours after sales began, tickets were being listed for sale for more than $2,000.
On Tuesday, a single ticket in section 135 in the Rogers Centre for Game 1 was priced at $4,954. The lowest individual ticket found was in section 510 for $1,723, taxes included.
The prices caused uproar on social media, with many Jays fans questioning why a ticket could be purchased within minutes and potentially put back on the market for a significantly higher cost than it was likely purchased for.
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The anger over price resales is not new, with anger erupting last year during Taylor Swift’s Eras tour which saw similar ticket prices and frustration.
Ford’s government previously scrapped part of a law that would have capped ticket resale prices at 50 per cent above the original face value.
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A section in the previous Liberal government’s Ticket Sales Act would have imposed that cap, but the Progressive Conservatives paused implementing it shortly after the 2018 election.
A year later in 2019, it cancelled the rule, saying it was unenforceable and that it would have driven consumers to buy tickets on the black market and drive costs higher.
The Liberals under former premier Kathleen Wynne had originally introduced the legislation to tackle “scalper bots” that scoop up huge blocks of tickets.
John Fraser, the Ontario Liberals’ parliamentary leader, told reporters Wednesday that reviving anti-scalping legislation was the “right thing to do.”
“When we’re all waiting in line and we’re not getting tickets and the next second we see is 10, 12 times the price, that’s not fair,” Fraser said.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles, asked if the legislation should be brought back, told reporters it should, “100 per cent.”
“We asked for this when it came to the Taylor Swift concert, right, we need the government to take action,” Stiles said, adding her party will present something soon in the legislature.
In his comments Wednesday, Ford said he doesn’t believe in one company “controlling everything,” and specifically named Ticketmaster.
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