Supreme Court ruling in favour of RFU against Viagogo


By RFU Press Office
November 21 2012

The RFU's ticket terms and conditions allow member clubs to sell allocated tickets to other clubs and friends/family at face value and to official licensed operators.In order to reduce the number of tickets sold on the black market and protect rugby fans from unscrupulous dealers, the RFU has licensed official operators in Twickenham Experience Ltd, Mike Burton Corporate Hospitality Ltd, Events International, Eventmasters, Lucid Events, Tiger Events, and National Sporting Club. These operators pay the RFU royalties that are put back into the sport.

Supreme Court ruling in favour of Rugby Football Union against Viagogo
 

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has today succeeded in defeating Viagogo’s[1] appeal at the Supreme Court.

The landmark judgement follows a long-standing dispute between the RFU and Viagogo dating back to March 2011 to identify those who were offering for sale tickets on the Viagogo website for the 2010 Investec Internationals and the 2011 RBS 6 Nations, breaching the RFU’s ticketing terms and conditions

In a bid to ensure genuine fans are able to afford to purchase tickets, the RFU is the first national governing body to take action of this kind.

Today’s dismissal of Viagogo’s final appeal sets an important precedent for the sporting industry that rights holders should retain the ability to control their ticketing policy and pricing. If a seller is found to be listing these tickets on secondary websites they face tough sanctions, including possible court action.

The RFU has made the case throughout that it seeks to maintain the price of tickets at a reasonable level in the interests of the public and to promote the sport, by encouraging more people to attend international matches.

RFU Chief Commercial Officer Sophie Goldschmidt said: “We are pleased that this case has finally been brought to an end. As a national governing body, it is our aim to  grow the game of rugby. Giving genuine fans the opportunity to watch England play in front of a crowd of 82,000 at Twickenham plays a huge part in helping to achieve that.

“Selling tickets through secondary ticketing sites is against our terms and conditions and allows prices to be inflated, preventing many of our supporters from purchasing. We now plan to identify such sellers and take tough sanctions to keep our tickets off secondary ticket sites and in the right hands.”

In his judgment, Lord Kerr stated: “The entirely worthy motive of the RFU in seeking to maintain the price of tickets at a reasonable level not only promotes the sport of rugby, it is in the interest of all those members of the public who wish to avail of the chance to attend international matches”.

The appeal upholds the decision of Mr Justice Tugendhat in March 2011. The Supreme Court appeal was heard by a five justice panel of Lord Phillips, Lady Hale, Lord Kerr, Lord Clarke and Lord Reed. Viagogo will be now forced to give the RFU the names and addresses of those who advertised for sale and/or sold the tickets for the autumn internationals in 2010 and the Six Nations in 2011.


[1] On the 22nd March 2012 Viagogo Ltd, the UK arm of Viagogo changed its name to Consolidated Information Services Ltd and was granted members' voluntary liquidation.

Supreme Court ruling in favour of RFU against Viagogo
Posted by: Unofficial England Rugby Union (IP Logged)
Date: 21/11/2012 15:25

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Additional RFU comment on Supreme Court ruling in favour of Rugby Football Union against Viagogo
Posted by: UnofficialEnglandRugby (IP Logged)
Date: 21/11/2012 18:29

In response to today’s Viagogo statement after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Rugby Football Union, Sophie Goldschmidt, Chief Commercial Officer said:

“Following the statement issued by Viagogo, we felt it important to clarify the facts. The High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court have all found that sales of RFU tickets on Viagogo’s website arguably involve breach of contract, trespass and conversion. It is therefore in our view misleading to claim it is “legal” to buy and sell these tickets. Viagogo is in no position to assure its customers that this will not happen again. In fact, the RFU has already issued proceedings relating to the 2012 RBS 6 Nations and intends to pursue tickets being advertised for sale for the current QBE Internationals and upcoming 2013 6 Nations. Users of Viagogo should be aware that they are listing rugby tickets at risk of having their identities disclosed, and sanctions enforced.”

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