SACRAMENTO, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — A major shakeup in the live entertainment industry could be on the horizon, as a recent antitrust ruling against Live Nation Entertainment and its subsidiary Ticketmaster coincides with new efforts in California to crack down on ticket resale price gouging.

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State lawmakers are advancing Assembly Bill 1720 (AB 1720), also known as the California Fans First Act, aimed at limiting how much tickets can be resold for on secondary markets. The bill, authored by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D–San Francisco), passed the Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection in a 9-4 vote on Friday.

The legislation comes as a recent court ruling found Live Nation illegally monopolized the ticketing market — something Live Nation denies. Nonetheless, fans and artists have long criticized both Live Nation and Ticketmaster over high prices and limited competition.

“For too long, one company’s monopoly has distorted the ticketing market, and now a court has made clear that era is coming to an end,” Haney said in a statement. “But breaking up Live Nation–Ticketmaster is only half the fight.”

AB 1720 targets the secondary ticket market, where resellers — often using automated bots — can purchase tickets in bulk and relist them at significantly higher prices. The bill would cap resale prices at no more than 10% above the original face value, including fees.

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Supporters say the measure is designed to prevent extreme markups that have frustrated concertgoers. Lawmakers pointed to recent examples like Coachella, where general admission tickets originally prices at $549 were resold for as much as $3,000 — increases of more than 300%.

“This week’s ruling confirms what fans have known for years — the system has been rigged against them,” Haney said. “But breaking up a monopoly won’t mean affordable tickets if we still allow scalpers and bots to turn concerts into a speculative bidding war.”

According to assemblymember, the bill has gained backing from independent venues, nonprofit performance spaces and touring artists, who argue that inflated resale costs are pricing out fans and hurting the live music scene.

“AB 1720 makes it clear: tickets are for fans, not for profiteers trying to flip them for 200 or 300 percent markups,” Haney added.

The bill now heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for further consideration.

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