Viagogo’s 12 million fine upheld; concert tickets sold for up to 10 times their face value

The Lazio Regional Administrative Court has upheld the maximum fine of 12 million imposed on Viagogo AG, which was imposed in 2023 by AGCOM for the ‘online ticket touting’. Tickets were sold at prices soaring up to 10 times their face value for live performances by Italian and international artists, such as Maneskin, Blanco, Renato Zero and Cirque du Soleil. 

The Authority had set its sights on the company, which is based in Switzerland and also operates in Italia. Through a platform for buying and selling tickets for music, sport and entertainment events, the company was accused of breaching the regulations on secondary ticketing which prohibit the ‘sale or any other form of distribution of tickets for entertainment events by any party other than the holders – even on the basis of a specific contract or agreement – of the systems for their issue’. The only exception is ‘the sale, at a price equal to or lower than the face value, of tickets for entertainment events by a natural person on an occasional basis, provided that this is not for commercial purposes’.

The Authority’s preliminary findings reportedly established that tickets for 68 events held in 2022 had been sold or otherwise made available on the company’s website, including at prices 10 times higher than the face value, relating to live performances by Italian and international artists.

According to the Regional Administrative Court, ‘in the contested decision, the Authority demonstrated that it had thoroughly assessed all the factual circumstances and provided reasons regarding, respectively: the investigations carried out by the Guardia di Finanza; the evidence from the preliminary investigation set out in the contested decision, which provides a full understanding of the platform’s knowledge of the prohibited activities; the case law precedents which have recognised that Viagogo’s activities unequivocally reveal indications of interference that demonstrate the active nature of the platform’, which, in any event, ‘have not been refuted by the appellant’.

As regards the determination of the amount of the penalty, finally, the judges found that the criteria adopted by AGCOM were ‘in accordance with the relevant legislation and regulations, such that the penalty imposed must, in the opinion of the Court, free from the criticisms raised in the ground under consideration’.”