Leadership / 06.20.19

Lawmakers Want to End Online Ticket Gouging

Access Staff

Forbes (06/17/19) Corbin, Kenneth

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) is reintroducing the Better Oversight of Secondary Sales and Accountability in Concert Ticketing (BOSS) Act, a measure to instill transparency and regulation within the event ticketing market, which he describes as "badly corrupted." The measure would limit primary and secondary markets' participation in the ticketing space, with Live Nation the main target. Ticket sellers would have to post upfront disclosures about fees while consumers are selecting seats, which typically are not displayed until the last stage of the checkout process. Vendors also would be required to disclose their refund policies and any tickets they are holding back, while the setting of price floors would be limited as well. Secondary market sellers also would have to comply with new transparency standards, including disclosures around fees, and verify whether they actually had tickets at the time of sale. "Ticket buyers don't know how many tickets are going on sale or how many are being held back, can't see what fees will be tacked on, and sometimes don't even know if the tickets they are purchasing exist yet," Pascrell asserts.

Read the full article on Forbes. 

Tags: Reselling , Regulations , News , Secondary Ticketing