Back in June 2023 senators introduced the “Fans First” bill which intended to reform the live event ticketing system that is “riddled with problems and doesn’t serve the needs of fans, teams, artists, or venues,” as stated by Texas Senator John Cornyn.
And on Wednesday, May 16th 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the legislation in an ongoing effort to reform the ticketing industry.
The bill was originally introduced as a way to “address flaws in the current live event ticketing system by increasing transparency in ticket sales, protecting consumers from fake or dramatically overpriced tickets, and holding bad actors who engage in illegal ticket sale practices accountable,” according to an announcement.
Since the ticketing system moved online over the past years, fans have been “getting boxed out by bots, unauthorized resellers, and big conglomerates when they purchase tickets to see their favorite artists or need to resell a ticket.”
Almost every time tickets go on sale, scalpers and bots quickly swipe up thousands of them and resell them for astronomical prices–we all remember tickets to Taylor Swift’s MetLife Stadium Eras Tour show were listed on StubHub for a whopping $21,600 per ticket in 2022.
And while Ticketmaster, who’s at the forefront of ticket retail, and other ticket selling platforms have claimed to make efforts to get the system under control, we haven’t seen much success.
To address this issue, the Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing (TICKET) Act will require primary and secondary sellers such as Ticketmaster, SeatGeek, and StubHub to disclose the full ticket price, including fees, at the start of a transaction, prior to seat selection.
Even more, secondary sellers will be forbidden from transacting tickets they don’t physically possess.
A full breakdown of the TICKET Act involves the following:
Increase Ticket Sale Transparency – All live event ticket sellers and resellers must disclose the following:
- The total cost of the ticket, including fees, when the fan initially selects a ticket to purchase
- A breakdown of the ticket cost
- Clear terms and conditions of the purchase
- Which seat or section they are selling in to avoid ticket misrepresentation
- Whether or not they are the original seller
Protect American Consumers:
- Strengthens the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, signed into law in 2016, to further prohibit the use of bots to purchase tickets online
- Requires sellers and resellers to provide proof of purchase to consumers within 24 hours of purchase
- Requires sellers and resellers to refund consumers the full cost of the ticket when events are canceled
- Requires a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study to further study the marketplace and make recommendations
Stop Bad Actors:
- Imposes civil penalties on resellers engaging in illegal ticket sale practices, creates a reporting website for fans to file complaints, and tasks the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general with enforcement
- Prohibits the sale of a ticket that the reseller represents they possess but actually do not
- Prevents the use of deceptive websites and bad actors masquerading as legitimate sellers
- Requires reporting of BOTS Act violations from ticketing companies to the FTC and requires the FBI to share ticketing violations with them
When the bill was introduced, Live Nation, who owns Ticketmaster, showed their support, stating:
We support the Fans First Act and welcome legislation that brings positive reform to live event ticketing. We believe it’s critical Congress acts to protect fans and artists from predatory resale practices, and have long supported a federal all-in pricing mandate, banning speculative ticketing and deceptive websites, as well as other measures.
The bill was unanimously approved by the House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee back in December 2023, and it received a substantial amount of bipartisan support from the U.S. House of Representatives who passed it 338-24 on May 16th 2024.
The bill will now have to go before the Senate before President Joe Biden can sign it into law.
The news comes not too long after a new IRS rule was introduced which will tax those who resell concert and sporting event tickets. More on this here.