Ticketmaster announces closure of secondary resale websites Seatwave and Get Me In

Ticketmaster has announced that it is closing down secondary resale ticketing websites’ Get Me In and Seatwave and will not be listing any new tickets on either website with immediate effect. 

The announcement comes as legislation makes it way through the Dail, which takes aim at banning the resale of tickets at multiples of their face value.

The legislation will also cover events at designated venues which hold 1,000 or more people, following criticism of the secondary resale website in the past.

Calls for legislation action began in January 2017 to deal with “ticket touting” after tickets for U2’s Croke Park gig next summer were being offered for sale on secondary sites immediately after it sold out.

The company have said that it will replace Seatwave and GET ME IN! across the UK and Ireland with a  “fan-to-fan ticket exchange” in October.

The new system will allow fans to buy tickets and sell tickets at face value or less, the company said.

Managing Director of Ticketmaster Ireland, Keith English, said that creating a new ticket exchange system was always part of Ticketmaster’s ‘long-term plan’.

“Closing Seatwave and creating a new ticket exchange has always been part of Ticketmaster’s long-term plan. It’s not just in Ireland, it is happening across Europe,” he said.

“Our number one priority is to get tickets into the hands of fans so that they can go to the events they love. We are aware that fans are tired of seeing others snap up tickets just to resell for a profit on secondary websites, so we have decided to take action.”

He said the new Ticketmaster ticket exchange would let fans “sell tickets they can’t use directly through their Ticketmaster account, for the price originally paid or less.”