US lawmakers recently introduced the TICKET Act, which aims to force ticket sellers to display upfront and at point of sale, all fees imposed as charges. The bipartisan bill formally titled as “Transparency In Charges for Key Events Ticketing” (TICKET) Act came around after the sale of Taylor Swift’s Era Concert Tour became “the last stroke that broke the camel’s back” so to speak.
The TICKET Act forces ticket sellers and brokers to indicate the ticket base price and all the additional charges that increase the cost of a ticket. Such information must also be shown in events advertisements and in every piece of marketing material used in promoting the event.
TICKET Act Spawned by Ticketmaster’s Suspension of Sales to General Public
Lawmakers led by Representatives Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois and Gus Bilirakis, R-Florida, introduced the bill to provide protection for consumers against the increasing difficulties and price manipulations caused by ticket presales and price speculations. Although fiascos in events ticket selling have been happening in the past years, the issue heightened after Ticketmaster, the dominant ticket broker of the Taylor Swift Eras concert tour, suspended ticket sales to the general public due to ticket insufficiency.
The debacle incited outrage, as Taylor Swift herself spoke harshly against Ticketmaster’s move to oust fans belonging to the general public sector. Although Ticketmaster later apologized, groups of outraged fans reached out to lawmakers in Congress to put an end to the unethical ticket selling practice of allowing speculative prices that have become a norm among sellers; allegedly ever since Beyonce and Taylor Swift concert tickets became highly in demand.
Democratic Representative Schakowsky issued a statement stating:
. “Ticket consumers deserve protection against fraudulent ticket selling and excessive fees and surprise costs.
