Bipartisan Live Event Ticketing Legislation Advances in Congress;Ticket Buyer Bill of Rights Coalition Supports the Advancement of the TICKET Act and STOP Act
Washington, D.C. – The United States House Energy and Commerce today unanimously passed H.R. 3950, the Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing (TICKET) Act and the Speculative Ticketing Oversight and Prohibition Act (STOP Act) and combined the bills into one to advance to the full House of Representatives. The Ticket Buyer Bill of Rights Coalition issued the following statement in response:
“The live event ticketing system needs to be cured of deep flaws that result in consumers being abused before tickets go on sale, while they are for sale, and through the moment they are scanned for entry. We are pleased the Committee today expanded the scope of the bipartisan TICKET Act beyond its original focus on price transparency to now include other important consumer protections, specifically refund requirements for cancelled events and the banning of deceptive website marketing and speculative ticket sales where the seller is selling the promise of a ticket that he or she doesn’t yet possess.
“As a combined package, this legislation will take important steps toward improving the broken ticketing system. We hope this bill advances and ultimately becomes law, and that its passage out of committee today is a first step toward enacting broader ticketing market reform that is needed. We look forward to working with lawmakers to accomplish this in the future.”
The Ticket Buyer Bill of Rights is a set of principles the nation’s leading consumer protection and fan advocate organizations believe should serve as a framework for ticketing legislation that can improve the live events ticketing market that serves millions of fans each year. The Ticket Buyer Bill of Rights features five pillars:
The Right to Transferability, where ticketholders decide how to use, sell or give away their tickets if they wish and not the entity that previously sold the tickets;
The Right to Transparency, which includes all-in pricing and disclosures of relevant information for the purchasing decision;
The Right to Set the Price, so that companies who originally sold the tickets cannot dictate to fans for what price they can or cannot resell their purchased tickets;
The Right to a Fair Marketplace, where fans compete with actual humans, not illegal software bots, for tickets;
The Right to Recourse, where harmed fans retain the choice to seek remedies through the public court system and are not blocked by terms and conditions that force them into private arbitration.
Earlier this year, the Ticket Buyer Bill of Rights also endorsed the BOSS and SWIFT Act (HR 3660), introduced by Reps. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), a comprehensive bicameral bill that will hold the entire industry to a higher standard of accountability and transparency.
###
The Ticket Buyer Bill of Rights Coalition was founded in February 2023 by leading consumer and fan advocacy organizations to offer a framework for ticketing legislation that can improve the market that serves millions of fans each year. The Bill of Rights features five pillars; The Right to Transferability, The Right to Transparency, The Right to Set the Price, The Right to a Fair Marketplace and The Right to Recourse. The Ticket Buyer’s Bill of Rights has been endorsed by National Consumers League, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of California, National Association of Consumer Advocates, Public Knowledge, Sports Fans Coalition, Virginia Citizen Consumer Council, Protect Ticket Rights, and Fan Freedom. Learn more at www.ticketbuyerbillofrights.org.