Dublin City Council urged to scrap sponsorships over 'dystopian' dynamic pricing
Dynamic pricing has seen tickets for sports events and concerts skyrocket, with everyday people being priced out of major events.
Bringing up pressing issues around a lack of transparency, unfairness to customers, and price gouging, Sinn Fein Councillor Ciaran O Meachair is calling on Dublin City Council to take a firm stance against the “exploitative” practice. With the council often sponsoring and partnering with sports, music, and cultural events, he is asking that they resolve to refuse association with those selling tickets via dynamic pricing.
Cllr O Meachair spoke to Dublin Live about the issue and said the topic of inflated ticket pricing has come into the public consciousness in recent years. Cllr O Meachair said “it’s almost dystopian when you think about” as algorithms determine just how much money they get out of a passionate fan and then offer them a price point far beyond the realms of acceptability.
“The responsible thing for Dublin City Council to do is to take a position on this now,” Cllr O Meachair said, explaining that local authorities have a duty to stand up against questionable practices like dynamic pricing. With the advent of the internet, people’s data is being used against them and the lack of transparency means customers are paying vastly different sums for the exact same tickets.
“Dublin City Council is not just a spectator. They actively promote these events, they're partners in large events that come here,” Cllr O Meachair said. “If the council takes a position to say that we are not going to get behind events that have dynamic pricing in place, it would probably make the event organisers think twice.
“Dynamic pricing turns the spectator or the fan into more of a consumer. You’re not as much a supporter of your football team anymore, you’re just treated as a consumer. I don’t want to see it become commonplace in Ireland and Dublin with large-scale sporting events.”
It’s ultimately already struggling individuals and families who are hurt by dynamic pricing with Cllr O Meachair citing that ticket prices for World Cup games in the United States are going “into the thousands” and he fears a future where families “have to take out a loan” just to go to one game.
Dynamic pricing has long been commonplace for things like hotels and flights, but the way it has creeped into previously fixed ticket prices for events has seen major backlash.
Cllr O Meachair similarly is calling on the Dublin City Council to do their part to stamp out this practice in Dublin and Ireland. He is now waiting on his motion to be brought to the full council at an upcoming monthly meeting, where representatives will decide if the council should refuse to sponsor or partner with any sporting, musical or cultural event for which tickets are sold to the public via dynamic pricing.
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