\u2018All-in\u201d pricing for tickets has come one step closer to being a legal requirement in the US, with the House of Representatives voting overwhelmingly in favor of the measure on Tuesday (April 29).<\/p>\n
By a bipartisan vote of 409-15, the House gave its nod to the Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing<\/strong> (TICKET<\/strong>) Act<\/strong>, which, among other things, requires ticket sellers to show the final price \u2013 including all fees but not including sales tax \u2013 for any ticket they offer for sale.<\/p>\n The bill, which had been bouncing around in the halls of Congress for several years, has garnered broad support from consumer groups, industry groups involved in live music, and \u2013 notably \u2013 Live Nation<\/strong>, the leading global concert promoter and owner of Ticketmaster<\/strong>, which voluntarily shifted<\/a> to \u201call-in\u201d ticket pricing a few years ago.<\/p>\n The bill also requires ticket sellers to provide full refunds for tickets to canceled events; cracks down on websites that falsely claim to be \u201cofficial\u201d ticket resellers; and requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to look into enforcement of the BOTS Act<\/strong>, a 2016 law banning the use of automated systems to buy tickets, which appears to have had little impact on the mass purchase of tickets by bots.<\/p>\n The TICKET Act also bans the practice of speculative pricing<\/strong> \u2013 ticket resellers who sell tickets to consumers before they have themselves acquired those tickets.<\/p>\n In its place, the proposed law would establish a legal category for \u201cticket procurement services\u201d \u2013 platforms that can charge consumers in advance to purchase tickets on their behalf, so long as the platform makes clear that they don\u2019t yet own the tickets in question.<\/p>\n That has raised concerns among some of the groups that have been pushing for ticketing reforms, who view this provision as a loophole that effectively allows speculative ticketing to continue.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately the inclusion of a \u2018concierge service\u2019 carveout, as written in the TICKET Act, would undermine the speculative ticket ban,\u201d the National Independent Venue Association<\/strong> (NIVA<\/strong>) said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cConcierge services should not be a loophole for companies like Vivid Seats<\/strong> to claim they are offering a service while selling \u2018tickets\u2019 they don’t possess to unsuspecting fans. States across the country have proven that strong, loophole-free ticketing consumer protections work, and Congress should build on that momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cConcierge services should not be a loophole for companies… to claim they are offering a service while selling \u2018tickets\u2019 they don’t possess to unsuspecting fans.”<\/p>\n NIVA<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n For the most part, however, the bill\u2019s passage through the House was hailed as a step in the right direction.<\/p>\n \u201cThe House has once again made clear: consumers deserve transparency and fairness when buying event tickets,\u201d said John Breyault<\/strong>, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud at the National Consumers League<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis legislation puts an end to hidden fees and deceptive resale practices that have cheated fans for too long. With the House having acted, the Senate must now move swiftly to pass the TICKET Act and send it to the President\u2019s desk. With so many live events coming this summer, consumers can\u2019t afford more delays.\u201d<\/p>\n The TICKET Act\u2019s sister legislation in the US Senate sailed out of committee<\/a> in February with broad bipartisan support, and is on the legislative calendar for the current session.<\/p>\n