World Cup tickets in Toronto are expensive to begin with. Ontario's resale regulations don't help
World Cup tickets in Toronto are expensive to begin with. Ontario's resale regulations don't help
Anyone who’s tried to get resale tickets to a major event in recent years will know the pain, frustration and, most of all, cost of the secondary market.
Tickets on StubHub, a popular third-party reseller, have gone for as much as $80,000, and are currently going for over $2,000 a pop at minimum. It’s not a new problem — ask any Swiftie about the Eras Tour’s Toronto stop and there was the Blue Jays’ run to the World Series — and it’s made worse by Ontario’s resale laws.
In 2019, Doug Ford’s government scrapped part of a law that capped ticket resales at 50 per cent above the original price, allowing sites like Ticketmaster, StubHub and SeatGeek to set whatever price they think people will pay.
It’s an issue Ford, backpedalling from 2019, said this year he would like to review. The change of heart came after World Series tickets in Toronto sold out almost immediately, only for resale tickets to pop up for sale shortly after, well above face value.