Passport controller: ticket sales have plummeted in Moscow theaters

Kassir.ru provided Izvestia with information about such a difference in ticket sales for March performances in Moscow. The Moscow Show ticket operator records a 70% drop in sales by the same criterion. The drop is confirmed by MTS Live. All because, say platforms, that since March 15 on performances of almost all theaters in Moscow you can get only by documents, as on the plane or train: this measure should help to fight speculators. "Izvestia" dealt with the consequences of the theatrical experiment.

Where a ticket is sold on a passport

At the end of November 2024, the capital authorities announced the introduction of new rules for the sale of tickets for performances of institutions subordinate to the Department of Culture of Moscow. According to them, 63 theaters and 36 concert halls, including Mark Zakharov's Lenkom, the Pushkin Theater, Oleg Tabakov's Theater, Sovremennik, and the Variety Theater, will introduce a passport regime. To buy tickets for events with seating, which are scheduled from March 15, 2025, the audience is required to specify the data of an identity document - not necessarily a passport, you can use a birth certificate and a number of other documents. At the entrance to the theater, the compliance of the ticket with these documents will be checked.

The innovation is designed to improve control over the sale of tickets and increase the safety of visitors. This means the fight against speculators, who buy up tickets for the most popular performances and then sell them at inflated prices. In February, when almost all venues started sales for March, ticket operators announced a decrease in volumes.

- In February 2025, the demand for March performances in Moscow theaters decreased by 25% in quantity and 20% in money terms compared to the same period in 2024," Elena Glukhovskaya, General Director of Kassir.ru Group of Companies, told Izvestia. - The new rules undoubtedly complicate the purchase, and also cause apprehension and misunderstanding among those who planned to give tickets as gifts, for example, before March 8. Of course, any innovation requires time to get used to and a clearer understanding of how to adapt to the new rules. Undoubtedly, true theater lovers will get used to it after some time and will buy tickets again.

The decline was felt more seriously in the Moscowshow company. They have already reduced by 70%.

- Planning to hold events after March 15, we are forced to rent venues of theaters and concert halls not subordinated to the Department of Culture, - the press secretary of the company Daria Burlakova shared with "Izvestia". - The new rules will entail real multimillion-dollar losses of the Dept. of Culture subordinates. They will not be able to earn money on holding rental events.

MTS Live (Ticketland, Ticketsloud) also records a decrease without giving exact figures, but they note that it is still too early to give an accurate assessment.

- We see a slight decrease, but it is caused by several factors: not all theaters have not yet put the repertoire on sale after March 15, the implementation of changes in data collection and information transfer protocols is in the process of refinement and testing, for example, the collection of personal data at ticket offices, - Denis Vainshtein, Director of Ticket Business Development of MTS Live, told Izvestia. - Also, some users are really not ready to leave personal data and fill in additional fields and information. Nevertheless, according to our forecasts, the decline in sales will be insignificant.

The name ticket is an experiment, and as with any experiment, only time will tell how successful or unsuccessful it has been, says Gayane Shilajyan, director and producer of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra "Russian Philharmonic".

- Today all concert organizers observe a sharp decline in sales after the March holidays," she says.

A date with a passport

Spectators are afraid that by indicating their passport data they may become a victim of fraudsters.

- Not everyone understands whether they really buy a ticket on the site of the theater or it is a site double, - shared with "Izvestia" senior administrator of one of the theaters. - How many we have already seen double tickets, crying spectators who paid to fraudsters. Bandits have become more inventive. Under the guise of a theater website, they will make pages on which people themselves will write passport data. Where is the guarantee that the data can not be used by third parties?

They write about their indignation in theater publics. Among other things, it is now more difficult to buy a ticket as a gift or ask a girl out on a date.

"I wanted to arrange a first date at a performance at the Theater of Young Spectators. The girlfriend dreamed of being at the premiere of "Dog's Heart". Now I have to ask her for her passport. The surprise is canceled, and also suspicions in my address can not avoid," - writes Sergei.

"My mother wanted to buy tickets as a gift for the teacher, but she was required at the box office passports of all who will go," - disappointed Xenia.

In chats on the sites of theaters users are indignant that it is illegal to demand personal data from them. In addition, it is also unsafe: suddenly these data will be stolen.

- There is article 52.1 of the "Fundamentals of Legislation of the Russian Federation on Culture", which allows the sale of personal tickets, subscriptions and excursion vouchers by the organizers of mass and cultural events, the administration of museums, theaters, houses of culture, etc. If the ticket is registered, it is recognized as valid only upon presentation of a document that allows you to confirm your identity (usually it is a passport or an equivalent document, now it is generally possible to do this even with the help of an account on "Gosuslugi"). If the data do not match, then, alas, the ticket/subscription/ticket will not be considered valid for the bearer," explained Anna Barabash, CEO of Enterprise Legal Solutions.

At the same time, the law allows the possibility of transferring such a ticket to another person, but under a number of conditions. Firstly, the organizer of the event or the administration of the institution must be notified in advance in accordance with the procedure established by the contract, which the parties conclude when selling the ticket. Secondly, if it is transferred on a reimbursable basis, its resale price cannot exceed its original value, i.e. speculation in event tickets is not allowed by law.

"Izvestia" sent inquiries to Moscow theaters, which are covered by the decision of the Department of Culture of Moscow, but no one is ready to comment openly on the experiment.

- For us it's an order, and it's like in the army - there's no chance to disobey an order," one of the administrations said on condition of anonymity. - Each theater must decide for itself whether such measures are suitable for it or not.

How to protect data from fraudsters

Federal theaters, which are not subject to the experiment of the Department of Culture of Moscow, found themselves in a privileged position. Sources there told Izvestia that they have no problems so far and tickets are being bought as briskly as before. But some theaters, following the GABT, are introducing passport control themselves. For example, the Vakhtangov Theater has 64 performances in its repertoire, and for the three most popular ones the administration has introduced personalized tickets from December 2024 to stop speculation. Every month the theater is faced with the fact that on the day of the start of sales for hits, tickets were bought up in a few minutes. A few minutes later they appeared on resellers' websites and other resources - three or four times the face value.

- To evaluate the experiment, we need to understand why it is being introduced," Kirill Krok, director of the Vakhtangov Theater, told Izvestia. - If it's to fight speculators, most theaters don't even know about such problems. If it is an experiment, it is usually conducted at three or four institutions. First it is introduced, and as the experiment progresses, it is adapted. I constantly hear from colleagues from Moscow theaters that their ticket sales traffic has dropped. People do not want to put up with incomprehensible innovations. This decision affects a huge number of people, viewers, theaters, their income, on which many live.

As Kirill Krok says, before such fundamental decisions are made, it is necessary to gather the theater community, explain, discuss, think about what risks are possible and what it may lead to, whether the audience will go or not, how much the traffic will decrease. If name tickets are introduced in order to count the heads of spectators or to collect some statistics, it is easier.

- When people buy a ticket, they pay for it through a bank terminal or enter their card details when buying online, and it is immediately clear who is making the transaction," says Kirill Krok. - And all documents are linked to the bank card. Any marketplace or ticket operator working via the Internet will confirm that they have information about who buys what from them.

Now theaters are discussing how to work in the new conditions, "Izvestia" has learned. Some have introduced the sale of gift certificates. So, on the site of Oleg Tabakov Theater you can buy a gift at a nominal value from 3 thousand to 30 thousand rubles. That is, you don't give tickets, but a certificate, and its holder buys the tickets himself and enters his passport data.

In another theater "Izvestia" told "Izvestia" that they plan not to compare passport data in the ticket and the document at the entrance. They will simply tear off the stubs and let the viewer into the hall. "You understand, we do not have the opportunity to increase the staff of ticket takers, security guards, so that they promptly let the audience through - shared with the editorial office interlocutor on condition of anonymity. - There is also no room in the theater, where the audience could gather in large numbers, so as not to freeze in line to enter on the street."

Kirill Krok agrees with this position. The inspection will delay the performance. And in a theater where the Main Stage has productions running for five hours, such delays are palpable. And the audience's irritation is building up.

- Once, the scanners that read barcodes from tickets froze up, there was a cyberattack on the theater, and we had to reboot the server, which took ten minutes, the performance started 20 minutes late, and it was very painful for everyone," recalls Kirill Krok. - Already now people are refusing to go to Moscow theaters. This is how they protest against the innovations. When we opened sales for March and April - we never had such a situation, that there were no seats left at the box office from the start. Everything was sold out very quickly. And we attribute this to the fact that people are afraid and do not want to go to Moscow theaters under the new rules.

The transition to sales by name tickets is not a quick process, which is connected with the collection of personal data, with additional bureaucratic aspects, documentation and improvements to ticketing systems and websites. As Denis Weinstein notes, the task of a ticket operator is to protect personal data and secure its transfer, to provide a convenient and easy user path for the client when buying tickets using the documents on the showcases.

- We have prepared for this together with many departments: security, development, support, sales - the data is stored on a special cloud platform in a masked form and is fully protected," he said.

"Izvestia" sent an inquiry to the Department of Culture of the city of Moscow. Now a group of cultural figures is preparing a letter to the mayor of Moscow with a request to study the preliminary results of the experiment (the draft of the appeal is at the editorial office's disposal).