House Passes Act For Transparency In Concert Ticket Pricing

Dan Peled/Getty Images

House Passes Act For Transparency In Concert Ticket Pricing

Dan Peled/Getty Images

As you are doubtless aware, live-show ticket prices in the US have been out of control for the past few years, and governmental authorities are at least nominally attempting to regulate them. Last year, we got the news that Joe Biden’s Justice Department is prepping an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster, the obvious greatest offenders in that arena. Now, the House Of Representatives has passed legislation that calls for transparency in ticket prices.

As Variety reports, the House Of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to pass the TICKET Act; the name stands for Transparency In Charges for Key Events Ticketing. (They sure love their cute acronyms over there.) Illinois Democrat Jan Schakowsky and Florida Republican Gus Bilirakis introduced the act last year, and it calls for all-in pricing.

If the bill becomes law, it’ll ban speculative ticketing, in which resellers offer the same ticket more than once, as well as deceptive websites and marketing. Under the proposed law, sellers will have to fully refund any cancelled events and offer replacement tickets, with the buyers’ approval, for any postponed shows. The Federal Trade Commission would also issue a report on 2016’s BOTS Act Enforcement, another law enacted to protect ticket buyers. Full ticket prices, including fees, would need to be displayed in all advertising and promotional materials, a guideline similar to the one that airlines now follow.

The TICKET Act passed the house with overwhelming bipartisan support, with 338 representatives voting for the bill and 24 voting against. Ticketmaster already agreed to all-in pricing at a White House meeting last year, but this law, at least theoretically, would formalize that agreement. The TICKET Act still has to get through the Senate and go to the president before it can become law.

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