The reintroduced TICKET Act is riding a fresh wave of congressional support. Photo Credit: Claudio Schwarz
Riding a new wave of bipartisan support, the Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing Act (TICKET Act) is one step closer to becoming law.
Lawmakers made this latest round of approval official during a House Energy and Commerce committee markup today. Nearly all the involved representatives voted in favor of the reintroduced TICKET Act, which is also picking up steam in the Senate.
(As part of the same four-hour hearing, the House committee considered 25 other bills, among them the American Music Tourism Act.)
And for those who’ve followed the legislation’s years-running journey, that probably won’t come as a surprise. Before being booted from a spending bill late last year, the TICKET Act passed overwhelmingly in the House.
“We have worked a long time on this legislation – it’s been a couple of years,” Representative Jan Schakowsky summed up during today’s hearing. “And we should not have any problems with this right now. Because we know that this legislation has passed the House of Representatives pretty much unanimously. And we have had sponsors across the aisle at all times.”
Most notably, the TICKET Act would mandate all-in pricing, thereby compelling ticket marketplaces to display fee-inclusive costs at the outset.
Outside the halls of Congress, several players have endorsed this key provision (and the bill itself). Chief among the all-in advocates is Ticketmaster parent Live Nation; some evidence suggests that the market-leading promoter will benefit from the measure.
In any event, the concise TICKET Act would further ban speculative ticket listings, referring to those advertising passes that the sellers don’t actually possess. But possible workarounds seem straightforward enough here.
Provided the appropriate listings are labeled accordingly, ticket marketplaces could still allow the sale of services to obtain as-yet-unsecured passes, the TICKET Act text shows. Stated differently, it doesn’t appear that the legislation will outlaw speculative tickets altogether.
Another section of the bill describes bolstered ticket-refund requirements for postponed or canceled happenings, and the TICKET Act calls for an FTC report on the little-enforced BOTS Act.
(President Trump’s March 31st executive order instructs the FTC to “rigorously enforce” the BOTS Act. Separately, the MAIN Event Ticketing Act was reintroduced towards 2025’s beginning and, in short, would heighten the BOTS Act’s enforcement power.)
In a statement shared with DMN, the National Consumers League applauded the TICKET Act as “the solution that millions of fans have been seeking.”
“This bill is the solution that millions of fans have been seeking to finally get rid of hidden junk fees, crack down on predatory ticket resale practices, and guarantee refunds in the event of event postponements and cancellations,” VP of public policy, telecommunications, and fraud John Breyault said in part.
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