Bill to Ban Speculative Ticketing Introduced by 10th District Legislators

In an effort to address the concerns with the reselling of tickets by prohibiting tentative ticket sales also known as “speculative ticketing,” Senator Jim Holzapfel and Assemblymen Greg McGuckin and John Catalano have introduced a bill aimed at stopping this deceptive trade practice. The bill, S4031/A5639, amends the current law that allows for the sale of tickets not in the reseller’s possession.

“Speculative ticketing has duped consumers for years and puts a strain on both verified ticket sellers and the venue,” said Senator Holzapfel. “Before a seller like Ticketmaster has even put tickets on sale for a concert or sporting event, websites claiming to have seats available allow consumers to purchase tickets that may not even exist.”

“This bill is an attempt to improve the buying experience for ordinary customers so they can purchase guaranteed tickets at a fair price,” continued Holzapfel.

Following the sale of tickets for concerts like Taylor Swift, millions of fans were not able to buy tickets through Ticketmaster, forcing customers to search for tickets on resale websites. By not purchasing tickets from a reliable source, this caused fans to buy tickets at astronomical prices and sometimes people did not even receive a valid ticket.

“Event ticket resellers are selling tickets they don’t even have and they’re hoping that when the actual on-sale date arrives, they can use bots to secure the tickets and fulfill the order,” stated Assemblyman McGuckin. “There have been plenty of instances when fans end up with worse tickets than they were promised or no tickets at all.”

Specifically, the bill removes provisions of current law that allow for the sale of tickets not in the reseller’s possession under certain circumstances.  The bill prohibits resellers from employing tentative ticket policies, whereby the reseller sells tickets that are not in the reseller’s possession at the time of sale.

After hearing lengthy testimony in the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee and as a member of the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee, Assemblyman Catalano believes that this bill will make ticket buying more transparent and fair.

“It’s important that this bill becomes law to ensure that consumers are purchasing from a reputable source, have access to all the appropriate information when buying, and end up with the tickets they intended to buy,” added Assemblyman Catalano.