SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A California lawmaker is pushing a new bill, the California Fans First Act, that aims to curb ticket resale price gouging in the live entertainment industry, following heightened scrutiny of ticketing practices.
The effort follows a recent court ruling that found Live Nation illegally monopolized the ticketing market, an allegation the company denies.
In response, state Assemblymember Matt Haney is seeking support for Assembly Bill 1720, which targets ticket resale platforms rather than primary sellers such as Ticketmaster or entertainment venues.
Haney spoke Monday outside San Francisco’s Castro Theatre alongside representatives from the National Independent Venue Association of California and local SAG-AFTRA members.
Supporters said resale platforms allow tickets originally purchased from primary sellers or venues to be resold multiple times for far more than their face value.
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They argued that the additional money paid by concertgoers does not benefit artists or venues, but instead goes to scalpers and speculators. The bill proposes limiting how much a ticket can be resold for above its original price.
“This bill will restore access to affordable tickets for fans,” Haney said. “If you want to go to a show, you can buy a ticket directly, and you should plan to actually go to that performance if you can’t make it, if something happens, if plans change, you can resell your ticket for no more than 10% above what you pay for it. That’s going to ensure that we have full theaters, support for the artists, support for the venues, and we’re going to take out of the equation these folks who are gobbling up the tickets, pocketing all the money and driving these events out of the reach of fans who actually want to see the shows.”
Haney said enforcement of the proposed law would fall to the state attorney general and would be aimed at large-scale, industrial ticket resellers rather than individual consumers.
According to Haney’s office, Assembly Bill 1720 is scheduled to be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday. Lawmakers will then determine whether the measure advances to the Assembly floor.
ABC7 Eyewitness News has reached out to ticket reselling platforms SeatGeek, StubHub and Vivid Seats for a response to the bill.
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