California’s proposed AB 1720, a bill designed to cap concert ticket resale prices, failed to clear the Senate appropriations committee, collapsing after an intense lobbying battle that saw ticketing platforms spend millions to defeat the measure while lawmakers across the country continue wrestling with high secondary market costs.
The Legislative Collapse of AB 1720
A California bill intended to limit how much tickets are allowed to be re-sold for in the state has failed. AB 1720 failed to make it out of the Senate appropriations committee on a Thursday, bringing an abrupt halt to a high-profile legislative effort.
State assembly member Matt Haney first introduced the measure in February. As originally published, the legislation would have capped concert ticket resale prices at no more than 10 percent higher than a ticket’s original price. As the legislative battle wore on, lawmakers scaled back the bill with an amendment that limited the proposed law to smaller venues with a capacity of 3,000 or lower. That compromise stripped out a majority of the shows that typically drive secondary ticketing traffic.
Lobbying Firepower and Industry Resistance
The legislative defeat followed a heavy lobbying campaign from secondary ticketing platforms. Ticket resale giant StubHub spent a record-high $3.4 million in lobbying expenses in California over the course of the year to fight the bill, which included $2.6 million spent during the most recent quarter alone.
Critics noted that secondary platforms offer vital transparency, accountability, and tracking for transactions, warning that hard caps push desperate buyers and sellers into unpoliced corners of the internet.
Supporters Rally Behind Artist and Fan Demands
Despite the setback in committee, AB 1720 gathered substantial backing from industry stakeholders. The measure won support from the National Independent Venue Association, Music Artist Coalition, National Independent Talent Organization, and live music giant Live Nation. Supporters argued the rules were necessary to prevent scalpers from vacuuming up affordable inventory and relisting seats at extreme markups.
The sources do not contain a quote from Chaez Boswell regarding being on the venue side of the barricade or in the crowd.
Following the committee vote, Haney vowed to persist with the issue. In a statement addressing the outcome, he emphasized that the push for ticket reform transcends partisan lines.
“This isn’t a fringe idea, and it isn’t partisan,”
Matt Haney, Assemblymember, via Hollywood Reporter
Haney added that he is going to keep working with the coalition of fans, artists, and venues who recognize the urgency of the issue and continue pushing for solutions.
The Scale of Secondary Market Extremes
The debate in California mirrors a broader national reckoning over ticketing economics. The secondary market has evolved into a billion-dollar, private-equity-backed industry where software-driven scalping operations acquire massive blocks of seats intended for everyday music fans.
The pricing disparities between primary box offices and resale sites have grown staggering. Noah Kahan listed his most expensive ticket for his 2026 Fenway Park show at $400 on the primary market, yet some of those same passes were relisted on StubHub at sky-high rates.
Such markups have drawn intense scrutiny from lawmakers and financial crime experts alike. Ticket reselling dynamics have made attending major tours domestically more expensive than traveling abroad, with Americans finding it cheaper to buy flights and hotels to see Taylor Swift play in Paris than to purchase a ticket in their own home cities.
Regional Approaches and Enforcement Debates
While California’s legislative attempt stalled out, other jurisdictions have found more success implementing restrictions. Price cap measures have already passed in Maine, Vermont, and Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey placed a price cap bill into her state’s supplemental spending bill.
In New England, more than 40 artists—ranging from Noah Kahan and MGMT to members of Aerosmith and Dropkick Murphys—signed on to legislation the Senate passed capping the resale value of tickets at 110 percent of the original price. State Senator Dylan Fernandes filed a similar bill in June, which was adopted as an amendment to an economic development package.
Skeptics, however, warn that artificial caps may generate unforeseen enforcement challenges. Fraud experts note that outlawing regulated marketplaces does not eliminate bad actors; instead, it often drives transactions underground.
Hard caps risk pushing ticket sales underground to places such as Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, which remain unpoliced and fertile ground for scammers. Investigators point out that similar restrictions implemented in other regions have occasionally triggered spikes in ticket fraud as transactions slipped beyond the reach of law enforcement accountability.
