II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 281
To require sellers of event tickets to disclose comprehensive information
to consumers about ticket prices and related fees, to prohibit speculative
ticketing, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JANUARY28, 2025
Mr. S
CHMITT(for himself and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
A BILL
To require sellers of event tickets to disclose comprehensive
information to consumers about ticket prices and related
fees, to prohibit speculative ticketing, and for other pur-
poses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transparency In 4
Charges for Key Events Ticketing Act’’ or the ‘‘TICKET 5
Act’’. 6
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S281.IS S281
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2
•S 281 IS
SEC. 2. ALL INCLUSIVE TICKET PRICE DISCLOSURE. 1
Beginning 180 days after the date of the enactment 2
of this Act, it shall be unlawful for a ticket issuer, sec-3
ondary market ticket issuer, or secondary market ticket 4
exchange to offer for sale an event ticket unless the ticket 5
issuer, secondary market ticket issuer, or secondary mar-6
ket ticket exchange— 7
(1) clearly and conspicuously displays the total 8
event ticket price, if a price is displayed, in any ad-9
vertisement, marketing, or price list wherever the 10
ticket is offered for sale; 11
(2) clearly and conspicuously discloses to any 12
individual who seeks to purchase an event ticket the 13
total event ticket price at the time the ticket is first 14
displayed to the individual and anytime thereafter 15
throughout the ticket purchasing process; and 16
(3) provides an itemized list of the base event 17
ticket price and each event ticket fee prior to the 18
completion of the ticket purchasing process. 19
SEC. 3. SPECULATIVE TICKETING BAN. 20
(a) P
ROHIBITION.—Beginning 180 days after the 21
date of the enactment of this Act, a ticket issuer, sec-22
ondary market ticket issuer, or secondary market ticket 23
exchange that does not have actual or constructive posses-24
sion of an event ticket shall not sell, offer for sale, or ad-25
vertise for sale such event ticket. 26
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S281.IS S281
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3
•S 281 IS
(b) SERVICESPERMITTED.—Notwithstanding sub-1
section (a), a secondary market ticket issuer or secondary 2
market ticket exchange may sell, offer for sale, or adver-3
tise for sale a service to an individual to obtain an event 4
ticket on behalf of such individual if the secondary market 5
ticket issuer or secondary market ticket exchange complies 6
with the following: 7
(1) Does not market or list the service as an 8
event ticket. 9
(2) Maintains a clear, distinct, and easily dis-10
cernible separation between the service and event 11
tickets that persists throughout the entire service se-12
lection and purchasing process. 13
(3) Clearly and conspicuously discloses before 14
selection of the service that the service is not an 15
event ticket and that the purchase of the service 16
does not guarantee an event ticket. 17
SEC. 4. DISCLOSURES. 18
A ticket issuer, secondary market ticket issuer, or 19
secondary market ticket exchange— 20
(1) if offering an event ticket for resale, shall 21
provide a clear and conspicuous statement, before a 22
consumer purchases the event ticket from the ticket 23
issuer, secondary market ticket issuer, or secondary 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S281.IS S281
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4
•S 281 IS
market ticket exchange, that the issuer or exchange 1
is engaged in the secondary sale of event tickets; and 2
(2) shall not state that the ticket issuer, sec-3
ondary market ticket issuer, or secondary market 4
ticket exchange is affiliated with or endorsed by a 5
venue, team, or artist, as applicable, including by 6
using words like ‘‘official’’ in promotional materials, 7
social media promotions, or paid advertising, unless 8
a partnership agreement has been executed or the 9
issuer or exchange has the express written consent 10
of the venue, team, or artist, as applicable. 11
SEC. 5. REFUND REQUIREMENTS. 12
(a) C
ANCELLATION.—Beginning 180 days after the 13
date of the enactment of this Act, if an event is canceled 14
or postponed (except for a case in which an event is can-15
celed or postponed due to a cause beyond the reasonable 16
control of the issuer, including a natural disaster, civil dis-17
turbance, or otherwise unforeseeable impediment), a ticket 18
issuer, secondary market ticket issuer, or secondary mar-19
ket ticket exchange shall provide the purchaser of an event 20
ticket from the issuer or exchange for the canceled or post-21
poned event, at a minimum— 22
(1) if the event is cancelled, a full refund for 23
the total event ticket price; 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S281.IS S281
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5
•S 281 IS
(2) subject to availability, if the event is post-1
poned for not more than 6 months and the original 2
event ticket is no longer valid for entry to the re-3
scheduled event, a replacement event ticket for the 4
rescheduled event in the same or a comparable loca-5
tion once the event has been rescheduled; or 6
(3) if the event is postponed for more than 6 7
months, at the option of the purchaser— 8
(A) a full refund for the total event ticket 9
price; or 10
(B) if the original event ticket is no longer 11
valid for entry to the rescheduled event, a re-12
placement event ticket for the rescheduled event 13
in the same or a comparable location once the 14
event has been rescheduled. 15
(b) D
ISCLOSURE OFGUARANTEE AND REFUNDPOL-16
ICYREQUIRED.—Beginning 180 days after the date of the 17
enactment of this Act, a ticket issuer, secondary market 18
ticket issuer, or secondary market ticket exchange shall 19
disclose clearly and conspicuously to a purchaser before 20
the completion of an event ticket sale the guarantee or 21
refund policy of such ticket issuer, secondary market tick-22
et issuer, or secondary market ticket exchange, including 23
under what circumstances any refund issued will include 24
a refund of any event ticket fee. 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S281.IS S281
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6
•S 281 IS
(c) DISCLOSURE OFHOWTOOBTAIN AREFUNDRE-1
QUIRED.—Beginning 180 days after the date of the enact-2
ment of this Act, a ticket issuer, secondary market ticket 3
issuer, or secondary market ticket exchange shall provide 4
a clear and conspicuous explanation of how to obtain a 5
refund of the total event ticket price. 6
SEC. 6. REPORT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ON 7
BOTS ACT OF 2016 ENFORCEMENT. 8
Not later than 6 months after the date of the enact-9
ment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to Congress 10
a report on enforcement of the Better Online Ticket Sales 11
Act of 2016 (Public Law 114–274; 15 U.S.C. 45c), includ-12
ing any enforcement action taken, challenges with enforce-13
ment and coordination with State Attorneys General, and 14
recommendations on how to improve enforcement and in-15
dustry compliance. 16
SEC. 7. ENFORCEMENT. 17
(a) U
NFAIR ORDECEPTIVEACT ORPRACTICE.—A 18
violation of this Act shall be treated as a violation of a 19
rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice under 20
section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 21
(15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 22
(b) P
OWERS OFCOMMISSION.— 23
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Commission shall en-24
force this Act in the same manner, by the same 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:55 Feb 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S281.IS S281
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7
•S 281 IS
means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and 1
duties as though all applicable terms and provisions 2
of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 3
et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of 4
this Act. 5
(2) P
RIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES .—Any person 6
who violates this Act shall be subject to the penalties 7
and entitled to the privileges and immunities pro-8
vided in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 9
U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 10
(3) A
UTHORITY PRESERVED .—Nothing in this 11
Act shall be construed to limit the authority of the 12
Commission under any other provision of law. 13
SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 14
In this Act: 15
(1) A
RTIST.—The term ‘‘artist’’ means any per-16
former, musician, comedian, producer, ensemble or 17
production entity of a theatrical production, sports 18
team owner, or similar person. 19
(2) B
ASE EVENT TICKET PRICE .—The term 20
‘‘base event ticket price’’ means, with respect to an 21
event ticket, the price of the event ticket excluding 22
the cost of any event ticket fees. 23
(3) C
OMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 24
means the Federal Trade Commission. 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S281.IS S281
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8
•S 281 IS
(4) EVENT.—The term ‘‘event’’ means any live 1
concert, theatrical performance, sporting event, 2
show, or similarly scheduled live activity, that is— 3
(A) taking place in a venue with a seating 4
or attendance capacity exceeding 200 persons; 5
(B) open to the general public; and 6
(C) promoted, advertised, or marketed in 7
interstate commerce, or for which event tickets 8
are generally sold or distributed in interstate 9
commerce. 10
(5) E
VENT TICKET; TICKET ISSUER.—The 11
terms ‘‘event ticket’’ and ‘‘ticket issuer’’ have the 12
meaning given those terms in the Better Online 13
Ticket Sales Act of 2016 (Public Law 114–274). 14
(6) E
VENT TICKET FEE .—The term ‘‘event 15
ticket fee’’— 16
(A) means a charge for an event ticket 17
that must be paid in addition to the base event 18
ticket price in order to obtain an event ticket 19
from a ticket issuer, secondary market ticket 20
issuer, or secondary market ticket exchange, in-21
cluding any service fee, charge and order proc-22
essing fee, delivery fee, facility charge fee, tax, 23
and any other charge; and 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S281.IS S281
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9
•S 281 IS
(B) does not include any charge or fee for 1
an optional product or service associated with 2
the event that may be selected by a purchaser 3
of an event ticket. 4
(7) O
PTIONAL PRODUCT OR SERVICE .—The 5
term ‘‘optional product or service’’ means a product 6
or service that an individual does not need to pur-7
chase to use or take possession of an event ticket. 8
(8) R
ESALE; SECONDARY SALE .—The terms 9
‘‘resale’’ and ‘‘secondary sale’’ mean any sale of an 10
event ticket that occurs after the initial sale of the 11
event ticket by a ticket issuer. 12
(9) S
ECONDARY MARKET TICKET EXCHANGE .— 13
The term ‘‘secondary market ticket exchange’’ 14
means any person that in the regular course of trade 15
or business of that person operates a platform or ex-16
change for advertising, listing, or selling resale tick-17
ets, on behalf of itself, vendors, or a secondary mar-18
ket ticket issuer. 19
(10) S
ECONDARY MARKET TICKET ISSUER .— 20
The term ‘‘secondary market ticket issuer’’ means 21
any person, including a ticket issuer, that resells or 22
makes a secondary sale of an event ticket to the gen-23
eral public in the regular course of the trade or busi-24
ness of the person. 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S281.IS S281
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 10
•S 281 IS
(11) TOTAL EVENT TICKET PRICE .—The term 1
‘‘total event ticket price’’ means, with respect to an 2
event ticket, the total cost of the event ticket, includ-3
ing the base event ticket price and any event ticket 4
fee. 5
(12) V
ENUE.—The term ‘‘venue’’ means a 6
physical space at which an event takes place. 7
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Feb 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S281.IS S281
ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS