January 30, 2019
Matatini scalpers prey on kapa haka fans
Te Matatini organisers are warning people against buying tickets for the kapa haka extravaganza from unauthorised sites.
Chief executive Carl Ross is expecting 60,000 people over the four days of the championships at Wellington’s Westpac stadium, starting on February 21.
More than 6000 tickets have already been sold through Te Matatini’s website or by the only official outlet, Ticketek, but the scalpers have also moved in.
He says one kuia contacted him concerned she had paid more than $700 to a site for two four-day passes, almost twice the official rate.
"When you go on a site like that it will say 'Only 1 percent of tickets left for sale.' Some of our people out there say 'I've got to get a ticket, I have to be there to support my whānau. It doesn't matter what it will cost me, I'm going to go.' They're preying on our people. With that site, won’t even get a ticket," Mr Ross says.
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