Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Stadium publishes seating chart. But is it enough to address concerns?

Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Stadium has published a seating chart after concertgoers complained about obstructed views, with lawmakers calling for more transparency for a better audience experience at the newly opened 50,000-seat facility.

Fans who forked out large sums of money for tickets close to the stage at concerts of British band Coldplay earlier this month and Cantopop star Nicholas Tse Ting-fung, which began on Thursday, said seating arrangements needed to be more transparent.

“It would be best if tickets for seats with obstructed views were not put up for sale,” lawmaker Johnny Ng Kit-chong, who sits on the Legislative Council’s culture panel, said on Friday.

“[Selling them] is good for neither the performers nor the audience. The most important thing is the protection of consumers. They did not expect the tickets they bought would have obstructed views.”

He also said that if such tickets had to be sold, they should be cheaper and a “prerequisite” that obstructions were clearly stated.

Ng cited his own experience at one of Coldplay’s concerts. He said that while his seat was free of obstructions, it was far from the stage and the screens of the live relay were small, noting that having larger ones could help.