The bigger the occasion, the better the pay-out for the ticket touts, reports Ed Power
Ticket touts will be cheering louder than most when Ireland's rugby team takes to the field this afternoon. Should Eddie O'Sullivan's side keep alive its grand-slam ambitions by defeating Wales, demand for tickets to next week's title decider against England will be unprecedented. As tickets are mainly distributed through rugby clubs or corporate channels, supporters with no official affiliation to the sport have little option but to avail of touts' murky services - or resign themselves to watching the match on television.
Ticket allocation is tightly monitored but, as ever, the touts will somehow lay their hands on enough to guarantee a lucrative payday. Rugby officials have urged fans not to pay above face value. However, with Six Nations mania at an all-time high, many are likely to ignore their pleas.
Two €57 stand tickets for Ireland v France recently fetched €700 in an Internet auction. Anecdotal evidence suggests diehard supporters are prepared to offer at least twice that figure for the chance to see the Irish secure only their second-ever grand slam. It is the sort of gilt-edged opportunity touts dream of.
But just who are these figures who operate in the shadows of sport and the entertainment industry? Where do they get all those tickets? And how can it be stopped?
The answers are far from clear. Touting is not a crime in this country (a Private Members' Bill which would outlaw the practice has been in parliamentary limbo since Alan Shatter, no longer a TD, introduced it four years ago), so gardaí have no powers to combat it.
Detectives believe those controlling the trade are career criminals for whom touting is merely another profitable sideline. Drugs and extortion are their chief passions and the authorities are understandably more concerned with eradicating such activities.
This is not to imply that the touts who will line the way to Lansdowne Road next week are significant underworld figures. Some are foot-soldiers for gangland's ruling clique, others entrepreneurs seeking to turn a few easy euro.
Most black market tickets have trickled through official channels. With 50,000 or so distributed for Ireland v England, it is inevitable that a small number will fall into the possession of those unable to resist the temptation to sell for a huge mark-up.
The IRFU deals harshly with anyone caught passing tickets to touts. Clubs found to have leaked some of their allocation may see their allocation for future ties reduced substantially. But the union insists they can only take action if supporters who suspect they have been ripped off lodge a complaint.
"We treat this sort of thing very seriously," says IRFU spokesman, John Redmond. "However, we can't do anything about it unless supporters help us. It's no use complaining that you were ripped off weeks after a match. Present us with your ticket stub and tell us how much you paid and we will be able to identify where the ticket came from and take appropriate action."
The hype preceding next week's game will be repeated, albeit in vastly different circumstances, when hip-hop star Eminem performs at Punchestown in June. With both shows sold out, touts are expected to make a killing. Concert promoters have tried to frustrate their efforts by restricting the number of tickets individuals can buy. Yet this is no impediment to resolute black-marketeers who use proxies to purchase on their behalf.
"It is impossible to remove touts from the equation," says Eamonn O'Connor, general manager of Ticketmaster Ireland. "We do what we can. Credit cards used by touts are blacklisted. But they just go and get more credit cards. The Government should outlaw touting. In the United States it is against the law to stand outside a venue selling tickets for more than the purchase price. The real pity is that many of our customers who would not even describe themselves as touts are getting a slice of the action. We have heard of people buying three tickets for a concert when they only require two, and flogging the third for a big mark-up. At the moment, nobody can touch them. They are doing nothing illegal."
Some will argue that touts are unfairly demonised for providing a necessary service, albeit at ludicrously inflated rates. But if fans were not prepared to pay preposterous sums to attend events, perhaps touts wouldn't find it so easy to make a living.