North Carolina House Bill 308 is setting the stage for a battle between event promoters, ticket agencies, and fans. Known as the Admission Ticket Reform Act, it would ban paperless ticket sales and prohibit ticket agencies from imposing fees on ticket holders who try to resell or give away their tickets.
Backers of the bill argue that ticket holders have a right to do what they want with their tickets — use them, sell them, or give them away — and that promoters should not control the sale and resale market for admission to events. Opponents say the bill would prevent ticket brokers from gobbling up tickets for major events before the general public has an opportunity to purchase them — and then reselling them at a tidy profit.
Rep. Steven LaRoque, R-Lenoir, said large concert promoters have been misleading the public for years. He sponsored the bill after he decided that enabling a healthy secondary market for ticket sales would protect consumers.
“There may be 30,000 seats at a concert or event, but [promoters] are only selling 5,000 seats to the public,” LaRoque said. “Consumers mistakenly believe all the seats are being sold, when only a fraction of tickets are for sale. It’s wrong and they are fooling the fans. If this law is enacted, it will make it mandatory for them to publish how many tickets they are actually selling and how many they are keeping back.” The bill would affect venues seating at least 1,500 persons, he added.
LaRoque said the bill also would curtail ticket agencies, such as Ticketmaster, from controlling the secondary resale of tickets by making fans show ID at the gate to validate ticket purchases.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” he said. “A ticket holder should not have to show ID. [Promoters and ticket agencies] are making it too restrictive on the consumer. The initial ticket seller can’t stop the public from reselling or giving away their tickets.”
Former UNC-Chapel Hill Athletic Director, North Carolina Republican Party chairman, and 4th District U.S. Rep. Bill Cobey opposes H.B. 308, calling it “a ticket scalper’s dream come true.” In an op-ed article for the North Carolina chapter of Americans for Prosperity, Cobey said H.B. 308 “does not actually reform the sale of concert and sporting event tickets at all,” he said. “It simply supports ticket scalpers, leaving the average fan unprotected.”
Cobey said the paperless ticket technology, which uses a customer’s credit or debit card as the actual ticket, prevents scam artists and sophisticated scalpers from ripping off fans. He said the bill would ensure that people attending events had purchased “authentic, reasonably priced tickets.”
The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority also opposes the bill, saying new restrictions on ticket sales might lead promoters to schedule events in states with lighter regulations.
Ticketmaster did not return a phone call or email requesting an interview, but StubHub!, a national ticket reseller, supports H.B. 308.
“The legislation will add another level of transparency for fans,” said Glenn Lehrman, head of communications at StubHub! “It is beneficial to consumers and provides the means for an open and robust secondary market. It ensures the public can sell or transfer tickets at will.”
Lehrman said StubHub! believes that once a person has purchased a ticket, the purchaser has a right to decide what to do with it. However, he said, some rival ticket agencies use practices that manipulate resale markets — including restrictive ID policies — and do not have the fans’ best interests at heart.
“There is no recourse for fans,” he said. “They can’t sell or trade their tickets. There’s nothing they can do. When they sell it back to the agency there is usually a [penalty] and the person selling the ticket will lose 20 to 25 percent of the value of the ticket.”
H.B. 308 is awaiting action in the House Commerce and Job Development Committee.
Karen Welsh is a contributor to Carolina Journal.