TICKET Act Passed Unanimously by House Committee

The House Energy & Commerce Committee has approved the TICKET Act as written, unanimously approving the bill and sending it to the full House for consideration. The bill, which was similarly advanced to the full Senate earlier this year, was moved to the full house after brief comments – all supportive – from its co-sponsors and other legislators at Tuesday’s committee hearing in Washington.

The bill — considered by many to be the most comprehensive ticketing consumer protection legislation in nearly a decade — mandates all-in pricing upfront with no hidden fees, bans deceptive “speculative” ticketing, ends deceptive websites with misleading URLs, and creates refund requirements to help fans get money back after a show is cancelled or postponed for a long time. Additionally, the bill requests an FTC BOTS Report.

“Our bill brings much-needed transparency to the whole ticketing industry, and I’m committed to working to get these reforms passed,” says Rep. Gus Bilirakis, who co-sponsored the House bill with Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill) in the last Congress, then again for the new congress in February of this year. “These reforms protect consumers, and help bring certainty to the marketplace.”

In addition to its co-sponsors, Reps. Troy Carter (D-LA) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ) went on record in support of the bill at the hearing before it was voted through without amendments. Carter added support for further action taken to require the reporting of alleged “bot” abuses in ticketing, which has long been a frustration point for consumers though federally illegal for a decade. Rep. Pallone took his moment to speak in favor of the advocacy of his friend, the late Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), who long advocated for significant reform to the ticketing industry, including co-authoring of the BOSS and SWIFT Act.

Rep. Pallone also expressed frustration that the TICKET Act was back in committee, having been overwhelmingly been passed by the full House during the previous congress and set for inclusion in the year-end continuing resolution spending bill, only to see it cut out after intervention by Elon Musk and President-Elect Trump at the last minute.

“The TICKET Act is the result of a hard-negotiated, bipartisan compromise that reflects the reality that the modern live event ticket-buying experience is an exercise in frustration for millions of consumers,” said John Breyault, National Consumers League Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications & Fraud. “This bill is the solution that millions of fans have been seeking to finally get rid of hidden junk fees, crack down on predatory ticket resale practices, and guarantee refunds in the event of event postponements and cancellations. We thank Representatives Guthrie, Pallone, Bilirakis, and Schakowsky for their continued support for the TICKET Act and we urge the full House to once again swiftly pass this common sense, bipartisan, consumer protection bill.”

TICKET Act has largely been seen as a compromise bill in the ticket reform battle that has raged since the crash-and-burn disaster of the Taylor Swift Eras Tour sales process in 2022. While longtime Ticketmaster foes like Rep. Pascrell pushed for comprehensive reform through the BOSS and SWIFT Act, and Live Nation/Ticketmaster and its venue and artist management allies in the “Fix The Tix” coalition pushed for ticketing laws that would effectively extend the primary box office monopoly into ticket resale, TICKET Act emerged as a middle path, supported in public almost unanimously.

That support, however, was shown to be hollow from the industry side once it became clear that TICKET Act was poised to pass via the CR. Organizations tied to “Fix The Tix” began a campaign to see the bill – which they publicly supported – stripped out of the CR, in hopes of returning in the new year to push once again for the Live Nation/Ticketmaster backed “FAIR” ticketing system.

| READ: Venue Lobby Reverses Support; Seeks to Kill Bipartisan TICKET Act |

“It’s a shame that the very same industry group that was bailed out by taxpayers during COVID has managed to waste so much taxpayer time for the past two years in Congress,”  a source with knowledge of the background efforts at the time of the CR consideration told TicketNews.

“All players in the system had input and TICKET Act was the compromise. [Organizations like NIVA and Live Nation/Ticketmaster] endorsed it but clearly never really did. Federal and state lawmakers should appreciate that some who claim to represent venues and artists are just the same as Ticketmaster – it’s “my way or nothing” with them. The TICKET Act is a fan protection bill and that’s what it will do. It’s not about protecting for-profit industry players, nor should it be.”

With the passage out of committee, the TICKET Act now has both its House and Senate version awaiting consideration by the full bodies of both chambers. Given its significant alignment with almost all of the priorities put forward with President Trump’s recent executive order regarding ticketing, it is expected to continue to enjoy broad bipartisan support.