Toronto Blue Jays supporters encountered challenges securing home game tickets for the upcoming World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fans faced difficulties obtaining face-value tickets as they quickly sold out, leaving only expensive resale options. Greg Overmonds shared his experience, stating he joined the queue early but was 22,000th in line and only reached the front by 10:40 a.m., finding only a $1,600 resale ticket, which was beyond his budget.
For those willing to splurge, Ticketmaster’s verified resale offered tickets for all Toronto games. Prices varied, with the cheapest Game 1 tickets in the 500s section costing over $1,300 each. Premium seats behind home base ranged from $3,600 to over $10,000 per ticket. Other platforms like StubHub also had tickets available, with prices starting at around $1,300.
Vass Bednar, the managing director of the Canadian SHIELD Institute, emphasized how digital systems have transformed the ticket-buying landscape. While resale platforms like Ticketmaster can prevent scams, Bednar pointed out that major companies now broker every ticket sale, potentially leading to double-selling and increased fees.
Ticketmaster’s face-value exchange policy can limit resale ticket prices, but it relies on artists choosing to implement it. Ticketmaster has committed to combatting resellers by restricting multiple accounts and mass reselling, though this measure does not extend to sports and theatre tickets.
Legislation around ticket pricing is limited in Canada, with Quebec being an exception by capping resale prices. Ontario, which previously aimed to cap resale prices, abandoned the plan due to enforcement challenges. Premier Doug Ford expressed a willingness to reconsider legislation to regulate ticket prices.
Stephen Selznick, a partner at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, highlighted the complex nature of ticket pricing due to limited supply and high demand. Bednar suggested implementing policies to cap resale prices or disclose face-value prices during resales to address the issue of escalating ticket costs. Public sentiment is shifting towards rejecting the current ticketing practices as being overly inflated.
