Surrey sign ground-breaking deal with Ticketmaster in war on ticket touts

Surrey have signed a ground‑breaking deal with Ticketmaster in a bid to tackle touting for all matches at The Oval.

Fans searching for tickets for sold-out Oval games on Ticketmaster — Surrey’s ticketing partner — will automatically be sent back to the club’s ticket exchange, where seats will be resold at face value. It means touts will not be able to bulk buy tickets then sell them at extortionate rates on Ticketmaster’s resale sites Getmein and Seatwave.

This is the first time Ticketmaster has signed such a deal with a sports body, and it has taken much negotiation for Surrey, who also work closely with Lambeth Council to clamp down on touting at the ground.

Football is the only sport protected from touting by law but Surrey supported moves for legislative protection for other sports that led to a bill introduced to Parliament last year.

The General Election meant the bill was never heard.

This scheme applies to all Surrey’s domestic matches at The Oval, as well as internationals. Next summer’s Ashes Test and World Cup, for which The Oval hosts five games, including the opener between England and South Africa, will be included. Surrey have also scrapped all booking fees, which previously stood at £1.75 per ticket.

“Tackling the secondary market has long been one our priorities,” said Steve Kitcher, head of public sales at Surrey. “We want fans coming to the Kia Oval to pay a fair price for a great day out, not get ripped off by ticket touts. I hope this deal is the start of things to come in the wider sports industry — as this problem is certainly not exclusive to cricket.”

The club will also monitor other resale sites out of Ticketmaster’s control in a bid to prevent secondary sales.

The Oval has greater problems with touting than most English grounds, with demand for tickets leading Surrey to announce their plans to expand the ground last week. Tickets for last summer’s Champions Trophy Final between India and Pakistan were selling for well over 10 times face value on resale sites.

Next month’s ODI against Australia was the fastest-selling fixture in the club’s history, while the first three days of September’s Test against India are almost totally sold out.