House TICKET Act Passage An Important Step Toward Ultimately Passing Comprehensive Ticketing Reform
The bill can be a vehicle for the strongest ticketing consumer protections in the Bipartisan Cornyn-Klobuchar Fans First Act to become law
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 15, 2024 — The Fix the Tix Coalition and the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) commend the U.S. House of Representatives and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Ranking Member Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Subcommittee Chair Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and Subcommittee Ranking Member Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), as well as Representatives Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) for working to strengthen and pass H.R. 3950, the TICKET Act. This progress is crucial and we applaud it.
We now call on the Senate to pass S. 3457, the Fans First Act, which builds on the TICKET Act by including additional provisions to wholly ban speculative, or fake, tickets, to ensure that deceptive imagery on websites does not trick consumers, to increase mandatory reporting of illegal BOTS to obtain tickets, to require clear and conspicuous itemization of the ticket price and fees at the beginning of the transaction, and to provide meaningful enforcement of these provisions.
“The Fix the Tix Coalition, representing every major constituency of the music and live events industry, applauds the passage of H.R. 3950, the TICKET Act, as an important step towards restoring trust in the ticketing ecosystem. The bill provides transparency with all-in pricing, and takes important steps to combat speculative tickets and deceptive websites. We urge the Senate to build on this progress by strengthening these provisions, increasing enforcement of the BOTS Act and providing additional avenues of enforcement to combat predatory and deceptive ticketing practices. The live entertainment ecosystem is counting on Congress to act in the best interests of fans to restore transparency and trust to our country’s broken ticketing system.” – Fix the Tix Coalition
“We commend House passage of H.R. 3950, the TICKET Act, which will help to improve the ticket buying experience for fans, to protect the livelihoods of artists, and to preserve independent venues across the nation. Not only has the U.S. House of Representatives moved to protect consumers from predatory and deceptive ticketing practices, but states across the country, including Arizona, Maryland, Minnesota and Nevada, have recently banned, without exception, speculative tickets on a bipartisan basis. We call on Congress to do the same, to build on the TICKET Act and adopt strong, enforceable, comprehensive ticketing reform legislation like the Fans First Act.” – Stephen Parker, Executive Director of the National Independent Venue Association
“Eventbrite celebrates the resounding House passage of live event ticketing reform and commends bill sponsors and committee leadership for strengthening the legislation before passing it. Now, it's the Senate's turn to build upon this progress for consumers and fans by passing the bipartisan and comprehensive Fans First Act (S. 3457) as soon as possible.” – Julia Hartz, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Eventbrite (Fix the Tix Steering Committee Member)
For more information on the Senate Fans First Act, the House TICKET Act, and the Senate TICKET Act, please see the Congressional Ticketing Side by Side.
ABOUT NIVA
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) represents independent music and comedy venues, promoters, and festivals throughout the U.S. NIVA led the #SaveOurStages campaign, culminating in landmark legislation in 2020 that established the $16 billion Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program.
NIVA's mission is to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent live venues, promoters, and festivals throughout the United States. NIVA is committed to equity in its support and advocacy for independent venues and seeks to create and encourage opportunities for venues, promoters, and festivals owned, operated, and staffed by people of color, women, non-binary, LGBTQ+, veterans, and people with disabilities.
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