FC Barcelona Joins Campaign Against Unauthorised Ticket Resale
By signing the agreement with FEAT, the Catalan club joins other professionals associated with the events industry in its mission for a Europe-wide ban on event ticket resale above face value.
FC Barcelona has signed an agreement with the Face-value European Alliance for Ticketing (FEAT), thus joining the organisation in its mission for a Europe-wide ban on event ticket resale above face value.
The agreement was signed at a meeting in the office of FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta, who was joined by Juli Guiu, vice-president of the FC Barcelona marketing area, and Neo Sala, founding director and founder & CEO of Doctor Music.
As part of its ‘Visiting Supporter Security and Control Protocol’, which FC Barcelona set up for high-risk fixtures, the club has already started implementing a series of measures to combat unauthorised ticket resale, including personalised tickets and a tracking system to prevent misuse.
The alliance between FC Barcelona and FEAT follows on with their joint mission to eradicate predatory ticketing behaviour.
In becoming FEAT’s latest member, the club has joined with live events professionals across Europe to make three key promises as part of their pledge: to fight for face-value ticket resale, to only support resale marketplaces that are legally compliant and embrace transparency, and to stand up to search engines and social media platforms accepting advertising from irregular resale platforms.
It boasts a number of achievements in its campaign for face-value ticket resale, including helping to secure key provisions in EU law to regulate resale platforms such in as the pivotal Digital Services Act, and its publication of two comprehensive guides on best practice to avoid unauthorised ticket resale.
2023 also saw FEAT unveil its “Make Tickets Fair!” campaign to the live events sector, which aims to educate and empower fans to avoid being ripped off by predatory ticket resellers.
Statement by Juli Guiu, vice-president of the FC Barcelona marketing area, said: “Tackling unauthorised ticket resale has been a priority of the club’s for some time so this partnership makes perfect sense.
“This alliance is also aligned with the different actions that FC Barcelona has been undertaking to protect its members and season ticket holders against any situation and for purchasers of tickets for all sectors to feel safe in the knowledge that the tickets they buy are legitimate and fairly priced.”
Neo Sala, founding director of FEAT and founder and CEO of Doctor Music, added: “We’re delighted to bring FC Barcelona, our first non-music member, on board to continue our fight against unethical ticket resale. This strengthens our voice, building a united front on the issue across entertainment and live events.
In this way, FC Barcelona becoming FEAT’s first sports member, Barcelona will now become FEAT’s official home city, and will host its Annual General Meeting there every year.”
