House Passes TICKET Act To Help Increase Concert Ticket Pricing Transparency

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the TICKET Act on Wednesday. The bill aims to increase transparency and accountability in the ticketing industry, benefiting fans and ensuring fair ticketing practices.

Introduced by Florida Republican Rep. Gus Bilirakis in June 2024, the TICKET Act received something not seen in the political arena often: sweeping bi-partisan support. The bill passed 388 – 24. 18 did not vote. All those in opposition were Republican. View the vote here.

The Senate will now consider the TICKET Act where similar bipartisan support is expected. If the bill passes the upper chamber, it will head to President Joe Biden’s desk.

Among the TICKET Act’s mandates are all-in pricing in an effort to increase transparency. Secondary sellers must disclose their status and cannot mislead consumers about associations with venues or artists unless there is a formal partnership agreement in place. Moreover, secondary sellers cannot use the name of artists, venues or teams in a deceptive way.

The TICKET Act also addresses refund policies. Primary sellers must provide refunds for canceled events or provide replacement tickets if warranted. Secondary sellers must have transparent refund policies in place.

While the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) lauded the move by the House in a statement, NIVA Executive Director Stephen Parker urged further reform:

We commend House passage of H.R. 3950, the TICKET Act, which will help to improve the ticket buying experience for fans, to protect the livelihoods of artists, and to preserve independent venues across the nation.

Not only has the U.S. House of Representatives moved to protect consumers from predatory and deceptive ticketing practices, but states across the country, including Arizona, Maryland, Minnesota and Nevada, have recently banned, without exception, speculative tickets on a bipartisan basis. We call on Congress to do the same, to build on the TICKET Act and adopt strong, enforceable, comprehensive ticketing reform legislation like the Fans First Act.”

Introduced in the Senate, the Fans First Act proposes more stringent reform on the ticketing industry, as per NIVA:

We now call on the Senate to pass S. 3457, the Fans First Act, which builds on the TICKET Act by including additional provisions to wholly ban speculative, or fake, tickets, to ensure that deceptive imagery on websites does not trick consumers, to increase mandatory reporting of illegal BOTS to obtain tickets, to require clear and conspicuous itemization of the ticket price and fees at the beginning of the transaction, and to provide meaningful enforcement of these provisions.

[Hat Tip – Pollstar]