Ticketing reform approaches the finish line In Sacramento

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OPINION — The World Cup has showcased the best of California, with packed stadiums and diverse, welcoming communities across the state. But for many what should have been joyful match days turned into a disaster as resale giants like StubHub failed to produce promised tickets or emptied fans’ pockets with sky high scalper prices. Fortunately, California’s leaders are ahead of the game — close to passing two ticket reform bills after years of work.

These bills do two simple things.

First, Los Angeles area Assemblymember Isaac Bryan’s AB 1349 cleans up ticket resale markets by banning “speculative” listings for tickets the seller doesn’t possess or own. These phantom listings are posted before real seats even go on sale, leverage presale excitement and scarcity to drive resale prices into the stratosphere.  For Karol G’s SoFi stadium shows in August, speculative pre-sale prices were up to 19 times more than fans paid when tickets were actually released – and those pre-sale spec listings were higher even than ordinary resale tickets available on Stub Hub today.

Second, San Francisco Assemblyman Matt Haney’s AB 1720 works even more directly – capping resale at 10% above face value so that fans can’t be gouged and artist decisions to price tickets affordably can’t be overridden by scalpers siphoning off ticket value for themselves despite doing nothing to stage shows, invest in music, or improve the experience of fans. By capping resale prices at reasonable levels, AB 1720 will eliminate the incentive of sky high resale profits that fuels the bot attacks and instant sellouts that make ticket buying so frustrating and steer most tickets to price gouging “brokers” (formerly known as scalpers until the resale PR machine got to work).

While some modest improvements are needed, like expanding AB 1720 to cover all venues so pro-consumer caps benefit everyone, both bills are close to the finish line, having already passed the Assembly by huge margins and ready for immediate action by the Senate. Passing them should be a complete no brainer, mixing smart pro-consumer policy with an easy political win ahead of Fall elections.

Recognizing a losing hand, the resellers have tried to make hay out of the fact that Live Nation supports these proposals – arguing in essence that, if those guys are for it the rest of us should be against it.

But that’s no way to make policy. These bills and similar proposals across the country have broad support from consumer groups and labor unions, artists advocates, California venues, and major advocacy groups like the Recording Academy, the Music Artists Coalition, as well as Live Nation’s fiercest critics like the National Independent Venue Association and the Future of Music Coalition. Voters strongly support these measures, with 83% in favor of a resale price cap and 85% agreeing we should ban speculative ticket listings, including 89% of Democrats and 83% of Republicans..

Shutting down deceptive speculative listings protects fans from getting overcharged or outright defrauded. It creates more transparent, reliable markets for ticket sales that benefit all legitimate ticketing services and honest sellers. Capping resale prices so that artists and venues set the price for their product, not scalpers, makes markets more honest and fair. Opponents of these bills claim they would limit competition, but that’s a smoke screen for their real concern – protecting the profits of scalpers and Big Tech resellers who make buying tickets so difficult, frustrating, and expensive in the first place.

To genuinely strengthen competition in ticketing services, policymakers should pass reforms like AB 1349 and AB 1720 that create a level and transparent playing where consumer have reliable access and information, all services play by the same, enforceable rules, and new rivals can challenge incumbents on the merits – but not by exploiting loopholes and overriding the prices set by artists and venues. That’s how to protect fans from getting ripped off and ensure all competitors get a fair shot – whether it’s new resale platforms challenging incumbents like StubHub or new primary ticketing services with Ticketmaster in their sights.

California’s leaders have a chance to fix a problem that burst into the open this summer. They should aim for the back of the net and protect local artists, venues, and fans.

Dustan Batton is Executive Director of CALinnovates, a non-partisan technology advocacy coalition.