View source for Live Event Ticketing Consumer Protection & Reform Act

{{Infobox ALEC Bills
|bill_title          = Live Event Ticketing Consumer Protection & Reform Act
|date_introduced     = December 5, 2024
|date_reviewed       =
|date_finalized      = 
|date_amended        =	
|date_accessed       =
|type                = Model Policy
|status              = Draft
|task_forces         = Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development; Communications and Technology
|keywords            = Business
|notes               =
}}
<h1>Live Event Ticketing Consumer Protection & Reform Act</h1>

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

(1) BASE EVENT TICKET PRICE.—The term “base event ticket price” means, with respect to an event ticket, the price of the event ticket excluding the cost of any event ticket fees or taxes.

(2) EVENT.—The term “event” means any live concert, theatrical performance, sporting event, show, or similarly scheduled live activity, taking place in a venue with a seating or attendance capacity exceeding 200 persons that is—

(A) open to the general public; and

(B) promoted, advertised, or marketed in interstate commerce, or for which event tickets are generally sold or distributed in interstate commerce.

(3) EVENT TICKET FEE.—The term “event ticket fee” means a charge that must be paid in addition to the base event ticket price in order to obtain an event ticket from a ticket issuer or secondary market ticket issuer, including service fees, charge and order processing fees, delivery fees, facility charge fees, and other charges, and does not include any taxes or any charge or fee for an optional product or service associated with the event that may be selected by a purchaser of an event ticket.

(4) TOTAL EVENT TICKET PRICE.—The term “total event ticket price” means, with respect to an event ticket, the total cost of the event ticket, including the base event ticket price and any event ticket fees, excluding any taxes.

(5) OPTIONAL PRODUCT OR SERVICE.—The term “optional product or service” means a product or service that an individual does not need to purchase to use or take possession of an event ticket.

(6) PLACE OF ENTERTAINMENT or VENUE.—The term “place of entertainment” or “venue” means a public or private entertainment facility, such as a stadium, arena, theater or other place where live performances, concerts, exhibits, athletic games, or contests are held, for which an entry fee is charged, to which the public is invited to observe, and for which a fee is charged.

(7) PRIMARY SALE.—The term “primary sale” means, with regards to a ticket, the initial sale of a ticket.

(8) PRIMARY TICKET SELLER.—The term “primary ticket seller” means an owner or operator of a venue or a sports team, a manager or provider of an event, or a provider of ticketing services (or an agent of such owner, operator, manager, or provider) that engages in the primary sale of tickets for an event.

(9) RESALE; SECONDARY SALE.—The terms “resale” and “secondary sale” mean any sale of an event ticket that occurs after the primary sale of the event ticket by a ticket issuer.

(10) SECONDARY MARKET TICKET SELLERS.—The term “secondary market ticket issuer” means any entity for which it is in the regular course of the trade or business of the entity to resell or make a secondary sale of an event ticket to the general public.

(11) SECONDARY MARKET TICKET EXCHANGE.—The term “secondary market ticket exchange” means any person that operates a platform or exchange for advertising, listing, or selling resale tickets, on behalf of itself, vendors, or a secondary market ticket issuer.

(12)  LOWER LEVEL DOMAIN NAME. — The term “lower level domain name” means the portion of text in a Uniform Resource Locator or URL for a website on the internet that is to the left of top level domains such as .com, .net or .org.

(13)  VENUE. — The term “venue” means real property where one or more persons hosts a concert, game, performance show or similar occasion. The term “venue” includes an arena, amphitheater, club, concert hall, convention center, fairground, public assembly facility, stadium, theater, or any other mass gathering location.

SEC. 3. RULES ON TRANSPARENCY OF MARKETING, DISTRIBUTION, AND PRICING OF TICKETS.

Beginning 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, it shall be unlawful for a ticket issuer, primary ticket seller, secondary market ticket seller or secondary market ticket exchange to offer for sale an event ticket unless the ticket seller, primary ticket seller, secondary market ticket issuer or secondary market ticket exchange —

(1) clearly and conspicuously displays the total event ticket price, if a price is displayed, in any advertisement, marketing, or price list wherever the ticket is offered for sale;

(2) clearly and conspicuously discloses to any individual who seeks to purchase an event ticket the total event ticket price at the time the ticket is first displayed to the individual and anytime thereafter throughout the ticket purchasing process.

SEC. 4. RULES FOR PRIMARY TICKET SELLERS.

Primary ticket seller requirements.

A primary ticket seller shall do the following:

(1) Not restrict or hinder the ability of a purchaser who has purchased a ticket from a primary ticket seller or venue from—

(A) reselling any such ticket independently of the primary ticket seller or any secondary ticket sales marketplace owned or affiliated with the primary ticket seller; and

(B) reselling any such ticket on the secondary ticket sales marketplace the purchaser chooses.

(2) Not require a minimum or maximum price for the resale of any ticket purchased from a primary ticket seller.

(3) Not sanction, discriminate against or deny a purchaser admission to an event, deny rights to bundled series tickets or the renewal thereof, or otherwise discriminate against a purchaser on the basis that the purchaser resold a ticket, gifted a ticket, or purchased a resold ticket.

(4) Not unreasonably delay the delivery of a ticket to a purchaser after purchase from the primary ticket seller.

Subject to the requirements of Subsections 1-4 of this Section, nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an operator of a live entertainment venue from maintaining and enforcing policies regarding access control, conduct or behavior at or in connection with the operator’s place of live entertainment. An operator of a live entertainment venue may revoke or restrict tickets:

(i) For reasons relating to a violation of venue policies that are available in writing;

(ii) For the protection of the safety of patrons; or

(iii) To address fraud or misconduct.

Nothing in this Section prohibits an operator of a live entertainment venue from prohibiting the resale of tickets if the ticket was initially offered:

(i) At no charge, and access to the ticket is not contingent upon providing any form of monetary consideration; or

(ii) By or on behalf of a charitable organization [as defined under relevant state law], for a charitable purpose [as defined under relevant state law],  where all proceeds from the ticket sale are provided to the charitable organization.

Notwithstanding any provisions of this Section to the contrary, any educational institution or associated nonprofit organization may establish and enforce prohibitions, restrictions, or conditions on the resale and transfer of tickets sold or otherwise made available to either of the following:

(i) The institution or organization’s officers, directors, employees, sponsors, or vendors; or

(ii) Donors who have made a financial contribution to obtain the right to purchase tickets.

SEC. 5  RULES FOR SECONDARY MARKET TICKET SELLERS AND SECONDARY MARKET TICKET EXCHANGES

Secondary market ticket seller and secondary market ticket exchange requirements.

A secondary market ticket seller and secondary market ticket exchange shall not do the following:

(1) Use in the URL of the ticket website a lower-level domain name that contains:

(A) The name of the venue for which the ticket grants admission;

(B) The name of the entertainment event, including the name of an individual, group or team scheduled to perform or appear at the event; or

(C) A name substantially similar to the name in item (A) or (B) of this subsection.

SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT