PLMJ
  April 20, 2006 - Portugal

Ticket Arrangements for Sport Events and EC Law

One of the essential components of organizing sport events is the ticketing system. Usually implemented by the Organizing Committees (OC), it is not unusual that these agreements contravene EC Law. In the Italy 1990 World Cup, the OC entered into a worldwide exclusive agreement of ground entrance tickets with a single tour travel agency for the purpose of putting together package tours for the event. Besides the violation of the freedom to provide services (Article 49 of the EC Treaty), OC abused its dominant position on the “market for sale of package tours to the World Cup” (Article 82 ECT), by restricting both competition between tour operators and competition between travel agents, thus making it impossible to find sources of supply other than the exclusive travel agency. On the occasion of 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, the OC signed ticket distribution agreements with a single agent per country, which was obliged to resell only within the respective country. This monopoly restricted competition among resellers of all the EU member states (Article 81 ECT), in clear detriment of end consumers. The 1998 World Cup in France was a paradigmatic case of protectionism, undermining the principle of non discrimination on grounds of nationality (Article 12 ECT), due to a ticket reservation system (through phone, mail or internet) which made it much easier for French citizens and French residents to get a ticket. For Euro 1996 and Euro 2000, a system of quota allocation of ticket for each country was set. The European Commission stated that unless it was proved that there would be no less restrictive means to achieve the objectives – such as assuring equitable sells, the loyalty and close support of the fans or the separation of the spectators in the stadium for safety reasons – said quota system would be prohibited. In 2004, the European Commission ordered that ticket sales through the Internet for the Athens Olympic Games should include other means of payment than only Visa Cards. As to Euro 2004 of football, which took place in Portugal, there were no reported cases of EC rules infringements. In spite of the continuous scrutiny of the European Commission, the 2006 “FIFA World Cup Germany” also involves infringements of EC Law. Due to the successful complaint of a UK consumer organization, it was possible to change the original exclusivity agreement signed between MasterCard, the German football association (DFB) and FIFA – an agreement between one “undertaking” and two “association of undertakings”, in the sense of Article 81 EC - which initially only allowed fans to acquire tickets (i) through a MasterCard credit card; (ii) by payment from a German bank account; and/or (iii) by way of an international bank transfer requiring additional expenses mainly for the non-Eurozone countries, related to the cross-border bank transfers into Euros. One legal action initiated in a Frankfurt court by a German consumer’s organization as well as a complaint presented by two MEP to the European Commission’s DG Competition, alleging violation of Article 82 EC were also decisive for obtaining an agreement. Some original rules were incompatible with the common market, namely the following: (i) just for their inscriptions at the waiting list, applicants were required to pay in full and in advance without knowing whether they would get the tickets, i.e, they were obliged to pay for a service that eventually would not be offered; (ii) applicants not eligible to get tickets would only be reimbursed after the tournament, and a nonrefundable fee of 5 euros for presumed “administrative costs” would be retained. In the framework of this brief article, and taking into account the above mentioned, it must be emphasized that one must assess sport events ticket selling activities as one do for sport activities themselves: both activities must have a free, wide, equitable and nondiscriminatory legal access, and also fair, transparent and objective selection criteria.