House lawmakers pass the TICKET Act requiring ticket vendors to give full disclosure of all fees at the time of purchase.
On July 27, 2023 the U.S. Senate Committee passed the bipartisan TICKET Act ensuring full disclosure of all fees. Ticket sellers must give full transparency of the total ticket price upfront in any advertising or marketing which lists a ticket price.
With that being said, legislation was introduced in the Senate back in April. The Ticket Act settles recent public disputes of ticketing sites and associated fees. The catalyst was the Ticketmaster pre-sale fiasco for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in 2022.
Swifties Crash Ticketmaster
When purchasing tickets for the Eras Tour, Ticketmaster began to crash due to the influx of users on the website. Fans were waiting for hours in online queues only to be left ticketless. The company would then receive overwhelming pushback for their failure to meet the substantial demand for concert tickets. Overall, Ticketmaster did not prepare for the driving force that is the Swifties.
The Ticket Act
In addition, Representative David N. Cicilline, of Rhode Island, states “excessive wait times and fees are completely unacceptable,” regarding Ticketmaster, and were “a symptom of a larger problem. It’s no secret that Live Nation-Ticketmaster is an unchecked monopoly.”
Prior, in June, Senator Cantwell called the pressing issue of “junk fees” to action. Cantwell recognizes consumers need complete awareness of the actual price of services and may compare other prices across markets. “Junk fees” are fees in addition to the price of a product or service after advertising a price to a consumer or in the transaction process. “When families budget for a night at a ball game or to hear their favorite band, they shouldn’t have to worry about being surprised by hidden fees that suddenly raise the final cost of tickets well over the advertised price,” Senator Cantwell states.
Even more, Senator Cantwell vows to work with members “to ensure that in the future venues who have to fight against the scourge of people trying to pretend that they’re selling tickets to their venue that we actually stop that practice in the future.” Thus, the Ticket Act is born.
