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eBay still a source for World Cup tickets, angst for FIFA
World Cup 2006 - 24 April, 2006
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The strength of internet commerce has left FIFA, the German World Cup Organising Committee (OC) and even the United Kingdom government somewhat powerless.
All three organizations have made attempts to halt the sale of World Cup tickets online, but none of the three has been able to get a handle on internet auction power eBay. The worldwide auctioneer continues to allow World Cup tickets to be sold online despite laws and pleas from all three groups.
FIFA has made the contention that controlling the sale of online tickets will help security for the matches, as well as limit the amount of attempts to sell counterfeit tickets.
The United Kingdom passed an addendum to a ticket re-sale law in April. Originally, the law banned the resale or attempted sale of tickets of matches involving England. The law was expanded to include any of this summer’s 64 World Cup matches, held in Germany.
Despite eBay being brought in as a consultant for the law, tickets still are sold on eBay sites. While eBay promised to halt the ticket sales on eBay.co.uk, buyers in the United Kingdom still can access eBay via international sites such as eBay.com. A difficulty is that, while the United Kingdom can police its own land, it has no jurisdiction or power when it comes to overseas online auctioneers.
Even while eBay has pulled some of the would-be-sellers from its United Kingdom site, there are others which manage to survive, including those that tease to later-round World Cup contests that could involve England.
A recent search of eBay.co.uk turned up tickets for sale with a listing that had six matches, including two later-round contests that potentially involve England. While one asking price was listed in United States dollars (USD 1,400 for a starting bid), there was a monetary conversion to the Great Britain Pound (approximately GBP 788). The tickets’ originating address was listed in the United Kingdom.
EBay has been a thorn for the United Kingdom, FIFA and OC since the first round of sales involving World Cup tickets. OC placed what it thought was a stringent process for ticket sales. The measures included printing the name of the original buyer on the tickets, with the promise of random identification checks at the venues. If someone’s name did not match that on their ticket, they would be barred admission.
Within 48 hours of the first official sales, however, World Cup tickets were listed for sale on the internet auctioneer’s site. OC asked eBay to remove the tickets from its site, but eBay declined, noting that no laws were being broken by the online listings.
Some eBay entrepreneurs ask buyers to provide their name, address and passport details to enact a transfer request to FIFA. That governing body, however, has done its utmost not to help with transfers bought from online sites.
A recent court case in Germany also went more in eBay’s favor than for FIFA or OC. At issue was a German fan who, despite his efforts, was not able to acquire tickets through the first World Cup offering last year and purchased his via eBay at EUR 880 for a semi-final match. The fan then asked for a transfer from FIFA that would allow him to attend despite the seller’s name being on the tickets. FIFA denied his request.
The court case ruled FIFA could not bar the man from a transfer. There was one caveat • the court’s ruling would apply to sales only before October, when FIFA set up its own online ticketing site.
The law in England is a different matter. EBay has pulled some auctions but, as noted earlier, some manage to get posted online. EBay has sometimes abided by the United Kingdom’s law, pulling tickets in January for an FA Cup match between Cheltenham Town and Newcastle, reasoning that the sales offer broke the site’s regulations.
EBay acted as a consultant for the United Kingdom law, enacted under the Criminal Justice Act, and promised to help by policing its own site and installing preventative measures. The company even issued a statement on its site that listings for tickets for tournaments staged by FIFA or UEFA are prohibited.
Still, there are World Cup tickets online. For eBay, there is a strong monetary consideration for keeping tickets available. The company charges sellers per listing, and gets more people browsing its site with potentially enticing listings.
In other big sporting events, tickets have often been found on eBay. Tickets for golf’s Ryder Cup, held this September, were fetching anywhere from USD 570 to USD 5,100, depending on the dates and number of tickets, during a recent examination of eBay. Tickets for the National Football League Super Bowl, held Feb. 2007, were garnering bids of more than USD 1,500 without the participants even being known. Some were being offered with a minimum price of USD 5,500.
While those sell, so do tickets to the World Cup. Barring any wide-spread legal action, it appears any group wanting to stop the online sale of tickets will be at the mercy of eBay, and the online company’s self-policing.
All three organizations have made attempts to halt the sale of World Cup tickets online, but none of the three has been able to get a handle on internet auction power eBay. The worldwide auctioneer continues to allow World Cup tickets to be sold online despite laws and pleas from all three groups.
FIFA has made the contention that controlling the sale of online tickets will help security for the matches, as well as limit the amount of attempts to sell counterfeit tickets.
The United Kingdom passed an addendum to a ticket re-sale law in April. Originally, the law banned the resale or attempted sale of tickets of matches involving England. The law was expanded to include any of this summer’s 64 World Cup matches, held in Germany.
Despite eBay being brought in as a consultant for the law, tickets still are sold on eBay sites. While eBay promised to halt the ticket sales on eBay.co.uk, buyers in the United Kingdom still can access eBay via international sites such as eBay.com. A difficulty is that, while the United Kingdom can police its own land, it has no jurisdiction or power when it comes to overseas online auctioneers.
Even while eBay has pulled some of the would-be-sellers from its United Kingdom site, there are others which manage to survive, including those that tease to later-round World Cup contests that could involve England.
A recent search of eBay.co.uk turned up tickets for sale with a listing that had six matches, including two later-round contests that potentially involve England. While one asking price was listed in United States dollars (USD 1,400 for a starting bid), there was a monetary conversion to the Great Britain Pound (approximately GBP 788). The tickets’ originating address was listed in the United Kingdom.
EBay has been a thorn for the United Kingdom, FIFA and OC since the first round of sales involving World Cup tickets. OC placed what it thought was a stringent process for ticket sales. The measures included printing the name of the original buyer on the tickets, with the promise of random identification checks at the venues. If someone’s name did not match that on their ticket, they would be barred admission.
Within 48 hours of the first official sales, however, World Cup tickets were listed for sale on the internet auctioneer’s site. OC asked eBay to remove the tickets from its site, but eBay declined, noting that no laws were being broken by the online listings.
Some eBay entrepreneurs ask buyers to provide their name, address and passport details to enact a transfer request to FIFA. That governing body, however, has done its utmost not to help with transfers bought from online sites.
A recent court case in Germany also went more in eBay’s favor than for FIFA or OC. At issue was a German fan who, despite his efforts, was not able to acquire tickets through the first World Cup offering last year and purchased his via eBay at EUR 880 for a semi-final match. The fan then asked for a transfer from FIFA that would allow him to attend despite the seller’s name being on the tickets. FIFA denied his request.
The court case ruled FIFA could not bar the man from a transfer. There was one caveat • the court’s ruling would apply to sales only before October, when FIFA set up its own online ticketing site.
The law in England is a different matter. EBay has pulled some auctions but, as noted earlier, some manage to get posted online. EBay has sometimes abided by the United Kingdom’s law, pulling tickets in January for an FA Cup match between Cheltenham Town and Newcastle, reasoning that the sales offer broke the site’s regulations.
EBay acted as a consultant for the United Kingdom law, enacted under the Criminal Justice Act, and promised to help by policing its own site and installing preventative measures. The company even issued a statement on its site that listings for tickets for tournaments staged by FIFA or UEFA are prohibited.
Still, there are World Cup tickets online. For eBay, there is a strong monetary consideration for keeping tickets available. The company charges sellers per listing, and gets more people browsing its site with potentially enticing listings.
In other big sporting events, tickets have often been found on eBay. Tickets for golf’s Ryder Cup, held this September, were fetching anywhere from USD 570 to USD 5,100, depending on the dates and number of tickets, during a recent examination of eBay. Tickets for the National Football League Super Bowl, held Feb. 2007, were garnering bids of more than USD 1,500 without the participants even being known. Some were being offered with a minimum price of USD 5,500.
While those sell, so do tickets to the World Cup. Barring any wide-spread legal action, it appears any group wanting to stop the online sale of tickets will be at the mercy of eBay, and the online company’s self-policing.
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