Campaigners have expressed their concerns about the inclusion of a revised TICKET Act in Congress’ stopgap spending bill.
The Fix The Tix coalition, which includes venues, promoters, record labels and artists, said the legislation is a watered down version of the bipartisan ticketing reform bill agreed earlier this year. The vast Continuing Resolution spending bill must be passed by Friday to avoid a government shutdown, however its progress may be hampered in any case after it was condemned by incoming president, Donald Trump.
The TICKET Act requires upfront disclosure of the all-in price of tickets including any fees and institute consumer protections regarding refund policies and deceptive websites. Coincidentally, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) passed a rule on Tuesday requiring ticket sellers across the US to disclose total prices in a crackdown on so-called “junk fees”.
The TICKET Act text passed by the House of Representatives in May would also ban speculative ticket sales, or sales of tickets not actually in the possession of the seller. It would not, however, prohibit practices like concierge or “seat saver” services offered by secondary ticketing platforms — so long as those services are explicitly designated as such.
No member of Congress has read this spending bill that’s about to be voted on. pic.twitter.com/4hcOR3XFqx
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 18, 2024
‘Swayed by lobbying’ claim
Fix The Tix claims that congressional leaders have been swayed by lobbying from the entertainment industry.
“It is unfortunate that disinformation from multi-billion dollar resale platforms and the organisations they fund—claiming to represent consumers’ interests—misled Congress into including a loophole that allows predatory brokers and resale platforms to sell fake tickets under a different name,” said Stephen Parker, National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) executive director.
“They also prevented so many more common-sense reforms from making it into the final legislation, especially strengthening the BOTS Act. These groups chose empowering predators and fighting progress behind the scenes over genuine consumer protections.
“We will make it our mission to blunt, repeal, or strike down any federal provision that would directly or indirectly permit the sale of fake tickets. We will also continue to work with the states to ensure that strong ticketing consumer protection laws like those passed earlier this year in Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Minnesota become the law of the land in all 50 states, the territories, and Washington, D.C.”
Commonsense approach
Sports Fans Coalition, which advocates for ticket transferability, has given its support to the bill, arguing that the revised TICKET Act is the best opportunity to protect fans before next year’s live event season begins. The coalition accused Stop The Fix of “pure politics so they can continue pushing an anti-fan agenda in state legislatures next year”.
“Fans have long called for all-in pricing and an end to deceptive ticketing practices,” said Brian Hess, executive director of Sports Fans Coalition.
“The four corners agreement on the TICKET Act represents a strong, commonsense approach to ticketing legislation that answers this call. SFC believes it should be included in the Continuing Resolution. Congress has the opportunity to pass the most comprehensive ticketing reforms in nearly a decade.
“Despite endorsing the bill earlier this year, it is disappointing that monopoly-aligned stakeholders, like the National Independent Venue Association, have changed their tune at the last minute.”
Share this