Ticketnetwork, StubHub Support Anti-bot Legislation in Michigan

The use of bots to buy and resell tickets has been illegal at the federal level for years, though those responsible are rarely held accountable. A bill in Michigan aims to eliminate the use of bots by imposing a $5,000 civil fee for any bot-bought tickets.

The legislation follows Ticketmaster’s botched presale for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour last fall, where millions of fans were left empty-handed. Ticketmaster was criticized for allowing bots to purchase tickets on the website amid crashes and hours-long virtual queues.

On Tuesday, Republican State Representative Graham Filler and Democratic Representative Mike McFall introduced the bill, which would create a $5,000 civil fine per ticket for individuals or companies who use or create bots to buy tickets to events in the state of Michigan. Additionally, the bill would allow the Michigan Department of Attorney General to bring civil action to stop a person who is suspected of using bots and recover fines.

Two secondary ticket marketplaces offered their support for the legislation. During a hearing before the House Regulatory Reform Committee on Tuesday, StubHub’s government relations manager told lawmakers the company “unequivocally support[s] prohibiting the use of bots to unfairly procure tickets,” and also favors legislation that requires primary ticket sellers — like Ticketmaster — to cooperate with officials in reporting bot activity.

“We believe a competitive marketplace provides consumers with greater access to the events they want to experience and the ability to purchase tickets at a fair and market driven price,” government relations manager Sean Auyash said.

Additionally, TicketNetwork told Ticket News it supports the legislation, but suggests that legislators should expand their focus to deal with other major issues the ticket buying consumer faces.

“We would love to see some more attention paid to things like better transparency for consumers about when and where tickets are put on sale in the first place,” Sean Burns of TicketNetwork said, noting that he hopes legislators will look “at some deeper systematic issues like ticket holdbacks that are used to kind of distort the perceived supply.”

Legislators did not vote on either of the bills ahead of adjourning the committee on Tuesday.