Updated
Updated · Hollywood Reporter · Aug 13
California Senate Panel Blocks 10% Ticket Resale Cap After $3.4 Million StubHub Lobbying Push
Updated
Updated · Hollywood Reporter · Aug 13

California Senate Panel Blocks 10% Ticket Resale Cap After $3.4 Million StubHub Lobbying Push

3 articles · Updated · Hollywood Reporter · Aug 13

Summary

  • AB 1720 died in the California Senate appropriations committee on Thursday, halting a proposal to cap concert ticket resales at 10% above face value.
  • The bill had already been narrowed to venues with 3,000 seats or fewer, excluding many of the larger shows that drive secondary-market trading.
  • StubHub led opposition with a record $3.4 million in California lobbying this year, including $2.6 million in the latest quarter, while Live Nation and independent venue and artist groups backed the measure.
  • Matt Haney said he will keep pushing anti-scalping measures as other jurisdictions including Maine, Vermont, Washington, D.C., and Massachusetts move ahead with resale-price caps.

Insights

With millions spent to kill California's resale cap, will fans ever escape the grip of predatory ticket scalping?
Could capping ticket resale prices accidentally drive the market underground and expose fans to even more fraud?
Can emerging technologies like smart contracts finally solve the live event ticketing crisis that regulators cannot fix?