Behind the economic explosion of the Shenzhen Universiade Center concert, lawyers dissect 12 types of legal risks and compliance points for large-scale events
During the National Day holiday, Deng Ziqi held four consecutive concerts at the Longgang Universiade Center in Shenzhen, attracting tens of thousands of fans to flock to Longgang. Official data shows that from January to September 2026, the Universiade Center has held 60 concerts, attracting 1.7993 million spectators. By 2025, there will be approximately 3000 large-scale commercial performances with over 5000 people nationwide, with a box office of 32.448 billion yuan and an audience of 43.3858 million people. The performance economy is accelerating from cultural consumption to becoming an important gateway to leverage urban consumption. But few people have noticed that a large-scale performance with tens of thousands of people, from approval, ticketing, security to dispersal and surrounding commercial cooperation, carries the seeds of legal risks in every aspect. As Shenzhen lawyers who have long served the entertainment industry and venue operators, what we see is not only a consumer boom, but also a sudden increase in compliance pressure.
The 'safety account' of large-scale performances: security obligations are not just about assigning a few security guards
Article 1198 of the Civil Code clearly stipulates that operators, managers, or organizers of public places such as hotels, shopping malls, banks, stations, airports, sports venues, entertainment venues, etc. who fail to fulfill their safety protection obligations and cause harm to others shall bear tort liability. A performance at the Universiade Center often attracts 40000 people, and the crowd density is extremely high at the end of the show. On October 5, 2026, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported that a large-scale performance of about 40000 people usually completes evacuation within 40 minutes, with the fastest being about 30 minutes. When the sports stadium and gymnasium held events simultaneously, 52000 people were evacuated in 32 minutes. Behind this data is the collaboration of multiple systems including transportation, public security, transportation, and commerce, but what is more crucial legally is whether the organizers and venue owners have established a contingency plan system that matches the risk level.
In judicial practice, when courts judge whether their security obligations have been fulfilled, they usually examine several dimensions: whether they have equipped security personnel that are suitable for the scale of the activity; Whether reasonable warning signs and emergency channels have been set up; Is there zoning control for pedestrian flow; Whether timely rescue was provided after the accident occurred. In the stampede incident of a music festival in 2023, the court found that the organizer did not set up hard isolation and did not take flow restriction measures, and assumed 70% of the compensation responsibility. For large venues such as the Universiade Center, lawyers suggest that: firstly, the security plan must be reviewed by legal advisors to ensure that it corresponds to the safety work plan requirements stipulated in Article 13 of the Regulations on the Safety Management of Large scale Mass Activities item by item; Secondly, the linkage agreements with public security, fire protection, and medical care should be written, clarifying the responsibilities and boundaries of each party; Thirdly, purchase public liability insurance for each performance, with the coverage amount matching the maximum capacity, and do not use one annual policy to cover all performances.
The contract reef of ticket economy: how to sign a tripartite agreement between ticketing, hotels, and commercial districts
Longgang has collaborated with 7 major business districts, over 260 merchants, and 37 partner hotels to launch ticket stub discounts around Deng Ziqi's concert. Hotels have offered discounts, themed rooms, and welcome packages, while some business districts have extended their operating hours. This "ticket economy" model is essentially a collection of multi-party cooperation agreements, but many collaborations remain at the level of verbal or WeChat confirmation. Once disputes arise, it is extremely difficult to provide evidence.
From a legal perspective, the relationship between the ticketing platform and the organizer is a ticketing agency contract, which is governed by Article 919 of the Civil Code on commission contracts; The relationship between the hotel and the commercial district is a joint promotion contract, and it is necessary to clarify the discount redemption method, settlement period, and breach of contract liability; The relationship between the organizer and the venue is a venue rental contract, which should stipulate venue delivery standards, overtime fees, compensation for equipment damage, and force majeure clauses. We once acted as an agent in a ticketing dispute: the organizer unilaterally cancelled the VIP package rights due to the artist's temporary change of track, and consumers collectively complained. The final court ruled that the organizer had breached the contract, but the consumer was unable to fully claim the losses due to not retaining screenshots of the promotional page when purchasing tickets.
Lawyer's practical advice: Firstly, the cooperation agreement for coupon discounts must be in writing, specifying the content, validity period, usage conditions, and settlement method of the discounts; Secondly, the "final interpretation right belongs to the organizer" clause on the ticketing sales page may be deemed invalid under Article 26 of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, so do not rely on this standard clause; Thirdly, hotel packages involving cross city fans should have clear refund and modification rules to avoid group complaints caused by cancelled performances; Fourthly, the rental contract between the venue and the organizer should clearly state the ownership of ticketing system data and the responsibility for protecting audience information, which involves the compliance red line of the Personal Information Protection Law.
Robots and drones on duty: Intellectual property and data compliance of new technology applications
The Universiade Center has introduced 19 robots in 6 major categories, with an average daily intelligent patrol of about 291 kilometers and the collection of more than 32000 data. Drones observe road operations through "one network unified flight", and artificial intelligence analyzes intersections and signal timing. These new technologies have improved operational efficiency, but they have also brought new legal issues.
Firstly, there is intellectual property. The introduction of robot systems, unmanned aerial vehicle inspection algorithms, and AI scheduling platforms in venues often involves software copyright, patents, and even trade secrets. If the contract between the venue and the technical service provider does not clearly stipulate the ownership of intellectual property, subsequent system upgrades, data migration, and secondary development may all lead to disputes. We suggest specifying in the technical service contract that the underlying algorithms belong to the service provider, but customized data and optimized models generated for this venue scenario belong to the venue party, or at least agree on a permanent free usage license.
Next is data compliance. If the videos, heat maps of human flow, and aerial images collected by robot patrols contain information that can identify the identity of natural persons, they fall within the scope of the Personal Information Protection Law. In 2025, a sports stadium was ordered by regulatory authorities to rectify its facial recognition admission system for failing to inform the audience and obtain separate consent. If the intelligent system of the Universiade Center involves facial capture and behavior trajectory analysis, it must fulfill the obligation of notification and consent, and do a good job in data anonymization and storage period management. In addition, the Data Security Law requires data processors to establish a data security management system. Although the possibility of large venues serving as operators of critical information infrastructure is low, once identified, compliance obligations will significantly increase.
Employment and Taxation for 12 Consecutive Performances: Flexible Employment is Not a Tax Avoidance Tool
From September 11th to October 5th, Deng Ziqi held 12 consecutive concerts, a 25 day high-frequency test not only of operational ability but also of employment compliance. A large-scale performance involves a large number of temporary positions such as security, ticket checking, guidance, cleaning, construction, catering, etc., often with hundreds of people. Many organizers adopt a "flexible employment" model, settling compensation through third-party platforms, but there are two common legal traps involved.
Firstly, the risk of labor relationship identification. If temporary personnel accept direct management, attendance, and scheduling by the organizer, even if their remuneration is paid through a third-party platform, they may still be recognized by arbitration institutions or courts as having a factual labor relationship with the organizer. Once recognized, the organizer needs to make up for social security contributions, pay economic compensation, and even face work-related injury compensation. We suggest signing a standardized labor outsourcing agreement with a third-party human resources company to clarify personnel management responsibilities; Avoid direct attendance and disciplinary action against temporary personnel in on-site management; Purchase single accident insurance for all personnel entering the site.
Secondly, tax compliance risks. The tax treatment of flexible employment platforms must truly correspond to the essence of the business. If the platform only issues invoices without actually undertaking labor management, it may be deemed as issuing false invoices by tax authorities. In 2024, a performance company distributed compensation through a flexible employment platform. Due to the inability to provide complete employment records and business vouchers, over one million yuan in taxes and late fees were recovered. The organizer should retain the original vouchers such as the schedule, attendance records, and work result confirmation forms to ensure the integration of business flow, fund flow, invoice flow, and contract flow.
The large-scale performance economy is a strong engine for urban consumption, but the stronger the engine, the faster the transmission of legal risks. From security obligations to contract systems, from intellectual property to data compliance, from employment management to tax planning, every link requires professional lawyers to intervene in advance. Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm has long been deeply involved in the entertainment industry and the compliance of large-scale events, providing year-round legal advisory services to multiple venue operators, performance organizers, and ticketing platforms. If you are preparing for a large-scale performance event or have questions about legal risks in venue operations, it is recommended to introduce legal advisors during the project initiation phase and spend compliance costs beforehand, rather than leaving compensation costs afterwards.
