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SACRAMENTO,CA – Today,Assemblymember Matt Haney (D- San francisco) introduced AB 1720,teh California fans First Act,to cap the resale price of concert and live event tickets at no more than 10 percent above face value, to curb price gouging by ticket brokers and resale platforms and ensure live music remains accessible to fans.
“For decades, concert tickets were sold at face value to real fans who wanted to see the artists they loved,” said Haney, who chairs the Committee on Downtown Recovery. “But today, professional scalpers and bots buy up tickets in seconds and resell them at massive markups. This bill puts an end to that system and puts the concert experience back where it belongs: with fans and artists.”
While ticketing has moved online, the essential promise of live music has not changed. What has changed is the rise of resale platforms that have turned concert tickets into a speculative market. Automated bots and ticket brokers now dominate ticket sales, driving prices far beyond face value without providing any benefit to artists, venues, or fans.
This week, the latest releases from the Epstein Files revealed a ticket resale scheme that involved purchasing high volumes of face-value tickets for events like the Grateful Dead 50th Reunion Tour and Coachella, and reselling them at exorbitant costs.
“I did everything right to try to see my favorite artist,” said Marlee Wallace, a music fan. “I signed up for the artist presale and was ready the moment tickets went on sale, but there were more than 130,000 people and bots in the queue for a 17,000-seat venue. By the time I got through, the only tickets left were outrageously expensive – and now I’m seeing those same tickets resold for up to eight times the original price. It’s frustrating and makes it feel impossible for me to support the artists and venues I love.”
Data shows ticket buyers pay more than double the original price on the secondary market, with some tickets resold for several times their face value. in one study, tickets with an average face value under $80 were resold for more than $1,000.Artists who intentionally keep ticket prices low to make shows accessible still see thousands of their tickets flipped on resale sites at markups exceeding 300 percent.
“Concert tickets aren’t stocks to be flipped for profit. They’re a chance for real fans to see the artists they love. Yet for years we’ve let out-of-state scalpers and speculators cut the line, buy up tickets in bulk, and resell them at outrageous markups-shuttin
