Ontario ticket resellers face no fines yet despite breaking price-cap law during World Cup
StubHub, SeatGeek, and Vivid Seats admitted non-compliance with Ontario's April ban on resales above face value, but the province has not penalized them.
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Ontario's World Cup matches have wrapped with major ticket resellers openly violating the province's price-cap law—and facing no apparent penalties so far.
The law, which took effect in April, banned the resale of Ontario concert and sports tickets for prices above face value. Three of the largest platforms—StubHub, SeatGeek, and Vivid Seats—admitted after Toronto's final match on Thursday, July 2, that they are not in compliance with the new rule.
StubHub cited unresolved questions about what level of proof sellers must provide to verify a ticket's original price. SeatGeek said it is still working to understand its compliance obligations and seeking guidance. Vivid Seats claimed it has remedied nearly all areas of non-compliance and expects to be fully compliant this month.
As of Friday, no fines or charges for non-compliance were listed on a website the province runs warning the public about companies flouting laws. The province did not immediately confirm whether it had issued any fines, though a spokesperson for the minister said, "We will not hesitate to hold bad actors who break the rules accountable."
When the law launched, Ontario promised fines up to $10,000 for repeat offenders. The potential penalties were hiked to $25,000 in June as the World Cup neared, with possible court-ordered fines of up to $50,000 for individuals and $250,000 for corporations.
The difficulty in enforcement stems from resale platforms not being able to easily determine the original face value of a ticket, since the original sale rarely occurred through their own system.
