Petition aims to tackle 'Bad Blood' between concert-goers and resale websites

Taylor Swift’s Era’s Tour has inspired one family to take their ticket troubles to Ottawa.

“The second after tickets went on sale, those same tickets were on resale sites for thousands of dollars more than they were [originally sold for]. Which tells me whoever bought them weren’t fans and that really is discouraging,” Scott Thomson told CTV News on Thursday.

Thomson said he tried to buy tickets for his 12-year-old daughter Aubrey, but was unsuccessful during the first public sale. Determined to secure some of the highly-coveted tickets, he turned to third-party websites with exorbitant prices.

Thomson turned his frustration into action and co-created a petition calling on the government to do something to address sky-high resale prices.

“I think the government needs to step in and study how we can stop this or at least slow it down, because the problem’s just going to get worse as we go from here,” he explained.

The petition asks the federal government to consider legislation, used by other countries to ban resales above face value, and regulate marketing practices to protect would-be ticket holders.

Aubrey Thomson poses with her Taylor Swift albums on Nov. 21, 2024. (Ashley Bacon/CTV News)

The petition is getting support from Kitchener Centre MP Mike Morrice.

“What we’re calling for with this petition is for the Government of Canada to look at other jurisdictions around the world that have already put substantial protections for folks in place. Like in Denmark where they already have a protection to not allow any reselling of tickets above the original face value of the ticket,” he said.

The Thomson family weren’t able to get their hands on tickets for the Toronto stops on Taylor Swift’s tour. They even considered travelling overseas to try to be part of the pop culture phenomenon.

“You could afford airfare, hotel and tickets in Germany for the same cost as you can get to the Rogers Centre to watch the show, which seems completely ludicrous to me,” Thomson said.

If successful, the petition would apply to all tickets, including sports games, concerts and other events.

Signatures are being collected until Dec. 19. Morrice said as long as the petition receives at least 500 signatures, he will present it to the House of Commons in the new year. As of 6:30 p.m. Thursday, the petition already had 487 signatures.