Holdbacks Under Fire: NY Lawmakers Discuss Ticketing Overhauls at CTF

New York State Senator James Skoufis and Assembly Member Ron Kim took the stage at this year’s Coalition for Ticket Fairness (CTF) conference in Florida on Thursday, and made clear that they have big plans for the updates to ticketing due in New York this year. The lawmakers, who chair important committees related to the ticketing legislation that was filed in January, shared their vision and had an open dialogue with conference attendees about where the regulatory ecosystem is, and should be for consumers in New York.

Their proposals, which come at a crucial moment when New York’s ticketing laws are set to sunset, aim to eliminate hidden ticket holdbacks, crack down on automated “bot” abuse, and reinforce consumer-friendly practices such as free transferability. Both lawmakers see this as a once-every-three-years opportunity to enact meaningful reforms in the nation’s most influential entertainment market.

“New York is the center of the live entertainment universe. What happens here has an impact well beyond our borders,” said Skoufis. “So if we can clean this up, it creates a domino effect that benefits fans everywhere.”

The “Dirty Secret” of Ticket Holdbacks

Leading off the discussion was the issue of ticket holdbacks, a longstanding practice where venues, artists, promoters, or other major players withhold large blocks of tickets from the initial public on-sale. Senator Skoufis argued that simple transparency could dramatically transform the debate, using Taylor Swift as a well-known example – having called attention to the practice being in place for the pop star’s Eras Tour sales debacle.

FURTHER READING: NY Sen. Skoufis Calls Holdbacks into Question over Taylor Swift Mess

“If Taylor Swift’s fans saw a disclosure that 15,000 of the 40,000 tickets were being held back, you know who they’d get mad at? Taylor Swift,” said Skoufis. “Who would stop holding back tickets the next day? Taylor Swift.”

He contends that if venues over a certain size (5,000–6,000 seats or more) were required to disclose how many tickets are truly available to the public, artists and their representatives would feel the immediate wrath of fans if they were found to be holding back significant portions of inventory. In this view, shine a light on the process, and public pressure will do the rest.

How Holdback Transparency Might Work

Under the proposed rule, large venues would publicly post the total inventory available at the opening of a sale, as well as how many tickets had been set aside for fan clubs, sponsors, or other groups. The goal, said Skoufis, is not necessarily to forbid artists or promoters from holding back seats—but to ensure consumers can see who’s responsible when tickets appear to “sell out” instantly.

“It’s one of the industry’s dirty secrets,” he said. “Ninety-nine percent of consumers don’t know it’s happening, so a simple mandate for disclosure would compel much better behavior.”

Renewing Ticketing Laws in New York

Every three years, New York’s ticketing statute comes up for renewal. This legislative “sunset” allows lawmakers to introduce new language or drastically alter existing provisions. Senator Skoufis, who has been involved in the Investigations Committee since 2018, and Assembly Member Ron Kim, who chairs other key committees and is new to ticketing legislation, both see 2025 as a pivotal year.

“Where the market fails, we either need to regulate or liberate,” said Kim. “We’re trying to find that sweet spot where businesses can still operate profitably while consumers are fully protected.”

New York’s stature as a global live entertainment hub makes its ticketing laws a bellwether for other markets across the country. Concerts in New York City alone generate billions in economic output, and sports and theater events add even more. By tackling core issues such as holdbacks, automated purchasing software, and ticket transferability, lawmakers believe they can make New York a leader in consumer-friendly ticketing practices.

Tackling BOTS: “They’re a Massive Problem—But Who’s Stopping Them?”

A major segment of the panel discussion revolved around the use—or misuse—of bots. These automated tools are often blamed for scooping up huge blocks of tickets before average consumers even have a chance to click “buy.” Yet, according to Skoufis, the bigger problem is not just the bots themselves, but the lack of any real reporting or enforcement from platforms like Ticketmaster, which claim to be inundated by bot activity.

“It’s not going to stop until people go to jail,” Skoufis emphasized, noting there’s been only one federal prosecution related to bots in years despite their supposed rampant use.

A key proposal under consideration would require the primary platform (often Ticketmaster) to hand over evidence of suspicious, bot-driven purchasing to the New York Attorney General’s office. In Skoufis’s words, this would eliminate what he calls the “tactic of complaining about bots to the public while doing nothing to actually stop them.”

Currently, Ticketmaster and other major platforms assert that they combat bots internally, but details on how often they successfully identify and ban such activity remain vague. By establishing a “bounty” mechanism—in which reporting entities share in a portion of any settlement or penalty—lawmakers hope to create a strong incentive for platforms to be proactive. If Ticketmaster or any other primary platform genuinely wants to stop bot abuse, handing over data for law enforcement should be a win–win scenario. On the other hand, if these platforms continue to stay silent, it may raise questions about whether they are profiting indirectly from bot-driven sales.

“There’s a lack of public capacity across the board to enforce these laws,” Assembly Member Kim added. “So we need legislation that forces cooperation, plain and simple.”

Ensuring Transferability and Consumer Rights

One cornerstone of the New York ticketing climate is its protection of ticket transferability. Many in the industry have criticized the rise of “restricted” tickets, which cannot be resold on independent marketplaces. Some platforms or teams claim non-transferable tickets reduce scalping, but Senator Skoufis and Assembly Member Kim view it as a direct hit to consumer rights.

“That is clearly against the spirit—and often the letter—of New York law,” said Skoufis, who pointed to ongoing complaints about platforms labeling a purchase as a “membership” or “partial plan,” thereby denying users the right to resell.

Assembly Member Kim reinforced this stance, saying that allowing free transfer is critical for maintaining consumer trust. “I grew up in a small-business household,” he said. “We can’t give blanket immunity to sellers—consumers need to have recourse if they’re ripped off or if they simply can’t use their tickets.”

At the same time, lawmakers are mindful of the balancing act. They don’t want overbroad regulations that bury small businesses or everyday brokers in legal fees and lawsuits. The aim, they say, is to protect legitimate transactions while leaving enough oxygen in the market for resale operations to exist without fear of being shut down arbitrarily.

All-In Pricing and Double-Dipping

The conversation also touched on all-in pricing, which New York made law three years ago. The requirement compels ticket sellers to disclose the full cost of a ticket up front, including fees. Skoufis expressed frustration that many platforms still haven’t complied, citing recent half-million-dollar settlements for companies like Legoland that failed to follow the rule.

Another proposal aims to prohibit “double-dipping,” where a single platform charges fees on both the primary ticket purchase and subsequent resale through its own secondary marketplace. Critics say it unfairly stacks the deck, allowing a single company to profit twice from the same ticket.

“You can’t be vertically integrated and engage in price manipulation,” Kim remarked. “If you’re collecting fees on the primary sale, it’s simply wrong to collect another set of fees if the same seat is resold on your secondary platform.”

The lawmakers suggest that if double-dipping is banned, major players like Ticketmaster might either become more transparent about their fee structures or cease operating in the secondary market altogether—potentially opening more space for independent resellers.

The Road Ahead

Ultimately, both Senator Skoufis and Assembly Member Kim say the goal is a fairer market. From holdback disclosures to enhanced bot reporting, they believe consumers deserve more clarity on how tickets are sold, priced, and distributed. With ticketing legislation once again up for discussion in Albany, the lawmakers are calling on stakeholders to engage openly.

“New York is the center of the live entertainment universe. What happens here has an impact well beyond our borders,” said Skoufis. “So if we can clean this up, it creates a domino effect that benefits fans everywhere.”

With negotiations set to ramp up after the state budget is finalized, these proposals have a real chance of shaping how Americans buy and sell tickets for years to come. While no one expects the changes to happen overnight, the consensus at the CTF conference was clear: If holdbacks, bots, and hidden fees are the old normal, transparency and enforcement may soon be the new frontier.