California\u2019s ticketing industry could be undergoing some major changes.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, California state Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) introduced a new bill called the California Fans First Act. The bill would impose price caps on tickets sold in the resale market, limiting prices to no more than 10% above the ticket\u2019s face value.<\/p>\n
By making it illegal to sell overly expensive tickets, the bill, officially labeled AB 1720, is aimed at making resale tickets more affordable for fans. If the legislation becomes law, it would only apply to shows in California and exclude tickets to sporting events.<\/p>\n
AB 1720 was introduced just a few weeks after a similar bill, AB 1349, reached the California Senate to be reviewed.<\/a> AB 1349 aims to ban speculative ticket sales (tickets that resellers don\u2019t yet possess) in the state. If enacted, the proposed legislation would require sellers to have event tickets in their possession before listing them for sale and would raise the maximum civil penalty for each violation from $2,500 to $10,000.<\/p>\n If both AB 1720 and 1349 were to pass, it\u2019s expected that the two bills would work together to better regulate the state\u2019s resale ticketing market.<\/p>\n Over the last several years, high ticket prices have been a recurring complaint among concertgoers. Rising demand for tickets has spurred a secondary resale marketplace for all kinds of high-profile live events, including music tours and sports games, making it harder to get tickets on the primary market.<\/p>\n Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, have been at the center of this issue for years, as the major ticketing vendor sells around 80% of tickets through its website. The company is facing lawsuits from the Department of Justice<\/a> and the Federal Trade Commission<\/a>, alleging monopolistic practices and illegal ticket vendor practices.<\/p>\n