Photo Credit: ABC7 News
New California legislation aims to fight ticket resale price gouging in the live entertainment industry amid intense scrutiny of ticketing practices.
On Monday, California Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) held a press conference outside the Castro Theatre to emphasize the importance of AB-1720, the California Fans First Act. If passed, the bill will curb price gouging by ticket brokers and resale platforms by capping the resale price of concert and live event tickets at no more than 10% above face value.
“When tickets are treated like speculative commodities, artists lose connection with their audiences, independent venues struggle to build loyal fan communities, and money that should be supporting local music ecosystems instead goes to professional brokers and resale platforms exploiting demand,” said Assemblymember Haney, who chairs the Committee on Downtown Recovery. “Concert tickets aren’t stocks to be flipped for profit.”
Haney was joined by representatives from the Music Artists Coalition, SAG-AFTRA, and the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), as well as Bay Area artists, musicians, and venue owners in support of the bill.
“Artists want fans in the room, not bots and brokers profiting off of music they don’t make,” said Ron Gubitz, Executive Director of the Music Artists Coalition. “When tickets to live events become a get-rich-quick scheme, fans get priced out. Concert tickets shouldn’t be auction items. This bill makes sure live music stays about connection and community, not some commodity for brokers to flip for profit.”
The impact of inflated resale prices is felt most strongly by independent venues, promoters, and local nightlife districts. Artists have echoed Haney and other lawmakers’ calls to lower costs for fans to attend live entertainment events. High ticket markups drain fan resources, leaving less to spend on the venues, restaurants, and small businesses that rely on a healthy live music ecosystem.
“When a fan overpays for a scalped ticket, they have less to spend that night. That’s the pre-show dinner that doesn’t happen or the round of drinks that gets skipped. That’s the merch table that doesn’t get visited,” Haney added. “Live music venues are anchors for local economies, and when predatory resellers siphon money out of the ecosystem, they are pulling dollars out of local communities and sending them to out-of-state investors.”
The bill allows for fair fan-to-fan ticket resale by permitting a price increase of no more than 10% of face value in the case that an individual can no longer attend the show they purchased a ticket for. It not only applies to live music concerts but comedy shows and theatrical productions as well. The bill will be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee this week.
“AB-1720 is a clean, smart, and long-overdue fix. It protects fans and supports venues. It gives artists accurate market signals and keeps money in local communities. And it stops treating concert tickets like a financial instrument,” said Gubitz. “Music fans in California deserve to pay what a ticket is worth. AB-1720 makes that possible. It’s time to pass it.”
To that end, the Music Artists Coalition encourages members of the public to sign the Fan Alliance’s petition urging California Assemblymembers to pass the bill this month.
