Premier Doug Ford says his government is looking into possible legislation to cap resale ticket prices in response to staggering prices for the upcoming World Series clash between the Toronto Blue Jays and L.A. Dodgers.
Single game tickets went on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Tuesday. As expected, they quickly sold out and resale prices soared into the thousands of dollars, with potential Game 7 tickets surpassing $10,000.
Ford thinks it’s unfair.
“My personal opinion … they’re gouging the people,” he said at Queen’s Park on Wednesday.
“When you have one player in the market that controls the tickets, that’s not right for the people, so we are actually reviewing that right now.”
When pressed if that meant legislation was forthcoming, Ford replied: “We are looking at that right now.”
Back in 2019, it was Ford’s government that scrapped part of a law that would have capped ticket resale prices at 50 per cent above the original face value.
The ticket-capping plan was brought in by the previous Liberal government, but it was scrapped by Ford’s government after they were elected.
At the time, the Ford government said the rule was unenforceable and would have driven consumers to buy tickets on the black market, further spiking prices.
It seems Ford has had a change of heart on the issue.
“I just don’t believe in one company controlling everything and that’s what’s happening right now with Ticketmaster in my opinion,” he said.
CityNews has reached out to Ticketmaster for comment, but didn’t receive a reply by publication time.
Rob Cerjanec, MPP for Ajax and Ontario Liberal Critic for Tourism, Sport, and Culture, blamed Ford for the current predicament ticket-seeking fans find themselves in.
“Doug Ford needs to learn that actions have consequences,” Cerjanec said in a release. “He scrapped this policy, and now thousands of Ontarians who wanted to see the Blue Jays in the World Series are priced out.”
On Wednesday Cerjanec tabled a motion to reinstate the former Ontario Liberal policy capping ticket resale prices at 50 percent above face value.
“If the Premier brings back the cap on resale tickets, it’ll be his best flip-flop yet,” Cerjanec added.
Rogers Centre will host the first two games of the series, and Games 6 and 7 if necessary.
Knowing thousands of fans won’t be able to attend live, the City of Toronto announced it would host free public viewing parties at Nathan Phillips Square for all Blue Jays home games.
With files from The Canadian Press