There is no need for new laws targeting scalpers, despite tickets to the Super Rugby final fetching up to $1500 online, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says.

Scalpers are hawking tickets to the Hurricanes versus Highlanders final on Saturday night - cashing in on the desperation of genuine fans who missed out during regular sales. Some have have targeted rugby fans with children, with one child's ticket going for almost 10 times its original price on Trade Me.

Rather than hovering around their keyboards at home, about 20 rugby fans queued up at Dunedin's Regent Theatre yesterday to get their hands on tickets for the Super rugby final between the Highlanders and the Hurricanes in Wellington.

About 30,000 tickets were snapped up, with 26,000 selling in less than a minute. More tickets would be available tomorrow morning.

Tickets appeared on Trade Me soon after the general sale, which was immediately met with outrage from other users of the site.


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Mr Joyce said he was unhappy with such behaviour, but looking at current laws would be an overreaction.

"What is more important is the promoters of these events think of their fan base, and think, well, how do we ensure that as many people as possible get the opportunity? Whether it's a major sports event, or a major concert, we have seen plenty of examples of things selling out in a couple of minutes on the internet.

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"And it probably doesn't leave a good taste in the mouth for many of the supporters. I think it would be a bit of a rush to decide that we are going to make some changes [to the law]. The first step is for the promoters to think of their public."

Mr Joyce said the final did not meet the definition of a major event under the Major Events Management Act, which would give officials greater powers to combat scalpers.

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"The major international event - notwithstanding that it is a very important game - is by definition something like the Rugby World Cup or Cricket World Cup. Secondly, they [the promoters] would have had to apply, and then it would have to be considered by Cabinet. They obviously didn't apply.

"Individual sports games wouldn't qualify as major events. Otherwise we'd be declaring them all over the place. I think in this case, the challenge for promoters in this day and age is to make sure they as much as possible cater to their fans, stagger the release of tickets and those sorts of things. And obviously the rugby union will be looking at that."


Jonathan Coleman, the Minister for Sport and Recreation, initially did not rule out making the final a major event when asked by reporters, but when pressed said it was something he would discuss with Mr Joyce.

Prime Minister John Key said while some people would have genuine reasons for on-selling tickets, it would be "a great tragedy" for people to purchase them with that intention.

Scalpers targeting children

The Hurricanes said they would cancel any tickets believed to have been scalped to this weekend's Super Rugby final, after 26,000 seats were sold in less than a minute.

Scalpers are now targeting families. One child ticket on the site is being sold for $200, around six to 10 times its original price on Trade Me. Another has tried to sell-on a child's ticket for $169. Official ticket prices for a child would normally be around $20 to $30. For an adult these ranged from $35 to $75.



Trade Me spokesman Logan Mudge said so far 33 tickets for the game had been sold on Trade Me and approximately 10 were still on sale.

He said the average price was approximately $210 and ranged from $30 for a child's ticket, through to $800 for two adult tickets.



Trade Me had said it would remove listings where it believed the ticket was not in the seller's posession, but so far had not removed any. It added for the vast majority of events people are legally allowed to on-sell legitimate tickets, therefore it allowed them to be sold on its site.



However, the Hurricanes have said they would cancel any tickets believed to have been scalped, after 26,000 seats were sold in less than a minute yesterday afternoon.





Fans upset and angry

Hurricanes chief executive James Te Puni said where it was proved that tickets were purchased from a scalper, they would invalidate them as it was against the terms and conditions to resell the tickets.



More tickets were expected to be sold later today, when the balance of those held for members and commercial partners' needs are released back into the public domain.



Upset fans have posted their discontent on Facebook.



One fan, Darren Bennett, was disappointed at missing out on tickets for the game. "I'm really frustrated I missed out on tickets. I'm about to emigrate to Australia, it was my last chance to see these guys."


He found the whole attitude of scalping was immoral and felt that something should be done to prevent the practice.

Graeme Moon said he had a flight to Wellington to see the game, but no ticket.



Sophia Dacosta said she had planned to see the game with her boys.



"Now just can't because of that greedy scalpers ... we are genuine Hurricanes supporters ... now see what they have done."

Hurricanes promise action

Hurricanes chief executive James Te Puni said where it was proved that tickets were purchased from a scalper, they would "invalidate them" as it was against the terms and conditions to resell the tickets.

Mr Te Puni said his office had contacted Trade Me last night and asked the company not to support the resale of finals tickets at an inflated price.

"Our ticket prices have been set to enable the fans to come to the game, not to fund the activities of ticket scalpers.

"However, Trade Me spokesman Paul Ford said the company did not enforce third party terms and conditions.


The terms and conditions were only enforceable by the ticket agency against the original purchaser.

He added that Trade Me would remove listings where it believed the ticket was not in the seller's possession or if specific tickets had been cancelled by the promoter.