Illegal resale of tickets increasingly impacting events industry in Romania

The illegal resale of tickets at inflated prices, also known as "scalping," and cases of fraud through selling the same ticket multiple times have become increasingly significant issues in the Romanian events industry.

Emagic, the organizers of the two Coldplay concerts scheduled for 2024, has already sought the support of the National Authority for Consumer Protection and Romanian Police structures to address scalping. With the assistance of official ticketing partners, they have taken measures to combat purchases through scalpers, ticket resale at inflated prices, or the sale of a single ticket to multiple buyers in order to protect true fans and ensure fair access to events, according to News.ro.

Due to high demand, tickets for the Coldplay concerts, taking place next year at the National Arena in Bucharest, sold out quickly, resulting in numerous resale offers on third-party platforms. Emagic clarified that they have no ticket sale intermediary contracts in place.

"Such tickets cannot be verified, and consumers have no guarantee that they possess an original, valid ticket or a counterfeit ticket that may have been resold multiple times. We call on the public to be vigilant and only purchase tickets from authorized distributors. We, in turn, actively monitor social media and ticket resale platforms and take measures to protect our fans and clients, which may include the cancellation of fraudulently resold tickets," said Laura Coroianu, managing partner of Emagic.

Emagic is a prominent promoter in the local and international live music industry, known for organizing some of the largest and most complex events in Romania, such as concerts by Metallica, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Roger Waters "The Wall," and Depeche Mode. The company said it is implementing stringent measures to combat unfair practices.

Emagic urges fans to buy tickets only from platforms officially communicated by the event's organizer (these can be easily identified on the official event poster, the organizer's website, or the official event created on social networks by the organizer). They also warn fans to not buy tickets from individuals, as there is a possibility that the same ticket may have been resold to multiple people, which would invalidate access to the event during ticket scanning.