Rugby tickets victory
Ruling body axe tie-up with secondary site After Record exposes scandal of rugby fans being ripped off, the game’s chiefs reveal ticket touts’ favourite resellers are..
RUGBY chiefs have severed an official link with a ticket reseller favoured by touts.
In a major victory for fans and the Record’s Stub Out The Touts campaign, the Scottish Rugby Union have ended a link with Viagogo which began in 2013.
SCOTTISH rugby bosses have ditched an official link-up with a ticket site branded a haven for touts and a rip-off for fans.
The “secondary” ticket platform Viagogo, used by touts to rip off sports and music fans, had been involved in a lucrative partnership with the Scottish Rugby Union since 2013.
But fans were up in arms after the Daily Record exposed how Scotland versus England tickets were being exchanged for 17 times face value on the site.
The SRU were forced to admit that Viagogo were receiving an allocation of premium tickets that fans were not allowed to purchase through the normal system.
Now they have ditched the deal after an outpouring of anger from fans following the Record probe.
Scottish Rugby said: “Scottish Rugby’s relationship with secondary ticket partner Viagogo ended earlier this year and will not be renewed.”
The severance of ties between the SRU and Viagogo emerged after Wesley Cameron, a debenture seat holder at Murrayfield, contacted the SRU to ask if they intended sticking with the Switzerland-based firm.
Wesley said: “I’ve been looking at the way Viagogo do business and couldn’t believe the SRU would have such a long-running association with them.
“Everything Viagogo do is set up to extract as much cash as they can from a fan, regardless of the face value of the ticket.
“The SRU churned out the same load of nonsense about how Viagogo protected fans from fraud but that made them look stupid.
“I guess they are due a bit of credit now and I’m very interested to see what they come up with next in terms of what they will do to protect fans who might have a ticket they want to sell on.” Wesley had tried to sell a ticket on Gumtree but the SRU’s protection of their Viagogo link-up resulted in a member of their sales staff contacting him to say he could only sell with Viagogo. He said: “It was clear to me that the majority of people trying to get their hands on my tickets were touts, trying to sell them on for further profit.” The SRU deal and our exposé was a hot topic at a hearing into ticket abuse at Westminster’s culture media and sport select committee earlier this year. Viagogo refused to appear but our reporter was quizzed by then-MP John Nicolson.
He produced copies of the Record’s Stub Out the Touts campaign and said: “Scottish Rugby’s got a case to answer.”
The SRU’s chief executive Mark Dodson, who brokered the Viagogo deal in 2013, said at the time that the deal “gives the supporter the opportunity to recoup their outlay… while also ensuring that additional revenues are invested in Scottish Rugby”.
Rugby star turned broadcaster John Beattie said news of the split with Viagogo was “good news, as it was never a good fit for the SRU”.
He added: “Sport has to be careful how it raises money. The resale market is one of the obvious means by which the corporate sector overcharges consumers with a lack of transparency.”
We approached Viagogo for comment yesterday but they did not respond.