In sport we call them fans, but sport is a consumer-driven industry. Tickets, merch, fan club subscriptions and premium content 'player' platforms, are all products to which consumer laws apply. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act) is nearly here, bringing with it a whole host of new consumer laws (and serious fines for non-compliance). 

The DMCC Act will affect sports clubs, teams, leagues, venues and federations up and down the country. In fact, even international sports directing their activities towards UK fans need to be alert to its application. 

Why do you need to think about it? 

The new legislation gives the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) – the UK's consumer law regulator – direct enforcement powers for the first time. This includes the power to fine non-compliant businesses up to 10% of global annual turnover. So non-compliance will soon become more costly than ever.

What is changing?

The new legislation introduces some key changes that will have a particular impact on sports that charge booking/admin fees on ticket sales or offer membership schemes. This is because of new rules designed to tackle so-called "drip pricing" practices and new rules on subscription contracts.

Drip pricing 

Drip pricing is where only part of an item's price is shown during the early part of the consumer journey, and the total amount to be paid is only revealed at or near the end of the buying process, by which time the consumer may feel committed to the purchase. The new rules will require businesses to include the total price up front, and this must include all unavoidable or mandatory charges – including booking fees, admin fees and delivery fees. This is a practice the CMA has already declared potentially harmful as part of its investigations into online choice architecture and it has now been enshrined in the Act. 

Subscription contracts

On subscriptions, the new rules will impose obligations on businesses that go much further than the current requirements and apply to all subscriptions – not just those that are signed up to online. Businesses will need to provide (i) certain specific information about the subscription before the contract is entered into, (ii) reminder notices about renewal payments at key points during the contract term, (iii) certain cooling-off rights at the beginning of the contract and after a free trial or renewal, and (iv) an easy way to cancel the contract. If the contract is entered into online, the consumer must also be able to cancel online.

Anything else?

As well as the changes referred to above, the DMCC Act also makes certain refinements to the existing laws on unfair commercial practices, making it easier for the CMA to show that businesses are in breach. It also introduces new banned practices relating to writing, commissioning and publishing fake reviews, which will require businesses to have in place processes and procedures to detect and remove fake reviews.

When are the changes going to come in?

Most of the new rules referred to above, including the new drip pricing rules, are set to apply from sometime in April 2025, although the exact date is still to be confirmed.

The rules on subscription contracts are currently slated to apply from Spring 2026 at the earliest, so there's longer to prepare for these. However, it's important to remember that these new rules are likely to require substantial changes to how information is presented on platforms as well as new processes and systems to deal with other requirements like sending reminder notices. 

So, don't wait for the whistle – it's already been blown! 

Find out more in our dedicated hub: Get DMCC ready