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Sports lovers in Hong Kong are still finding it difficult to make bookings of public sports facilities as scalpers are, once again, one step ahead of authorities' new anti-scalping rules.
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Authorities have in May stepped up their anti-scalping measures for bookings of public sports facilities in a move that will see those who use real-name registration to book the venues online get priority, and will conduct spot checks to ensure their presence.
The person under whom the sports facility is booked will get a 90-day ban from future bookings if the person was found not present during the session two times.
Just as you thought such measures would somehow bring a stop to the scalping, but no, scalpers are earning even more with the new measures.
Football enthusiast Peter told The Standard that under the new rules, scalpers are charging “pitch buyers” even more to cope with authorities’ new changes.
He noted that it is nearly impossible for ordinary citizens to book a pitch through the Leisure and Cultural Services Department’s online booking system as the scalpers work as a “syndicate” and would hire people to make the bookings for them.
“This leaves us no choice but to buy the bookings from them,” he said.
Peter said the scalpers are now charging them an extra HK$200 “accompany fee” per session for the person who booked the pitch to stay there in order to meet the authorities’ latest requirements.
“They see this as an opportunity to earn more from us, as it is just too lucrative for them to let go. The scalpers earn up to HK$600 to HK$700 per session easily - for every session lasting for only 90 minutes,” stressed Peter.
“All we want is to have rules that would stop scalping, but they are now costing us even more,” he added.
Read more: Game's up for scalpers with user checks
