Bill > S347

Introduced Session

This bill revises current law addressing the selling and reselling of tickets to places of entertainment. Under the bill, additional disclosures are required of ticket brokers who operate a website to resell tickets. Brokers will be required to clearly and conspicuously provide notice: (1) that the website is for the secondary sale of tickets; (2) that the price of a ticket offered for sale may exceed the price set by the place of entertainment; and (3) of any refund policy of the ticket broker that is in place with regard to the postponement or cancellation of an event. The broker is to require a purchaser to confirm having read the information on these notices prior to completing a transaction. A ticket broker is to also clearly and conspicuously disclose the price charged by the place of entertainment that is printed or endorsed on the face of each ticket prior to the purchaser completing any transaction. The same disclosures and requirements of a ticket broker are also made applicable to ticket resale websites in the bill. Additionally, the bill requires, as defined in current law, a person, reseller, ticket broker, ticket issuer, and ticket resale website to disclose the total cost of a ticket, including all ancillary fees, including any service charge, to be paid in order to complete the purchase of a ticket. This is to be disclosed in a clear and conspicuous manner, in dollars, to the ticket purchaser. If a ticket is sold through a website, the information required to be disclosed is to be displayed prior to the ticket being selected for purchase. The information disclosed is not to be false or misleading, and is not to be presented more prominently or in the same or larger size as the total price. Moreover, the price of a ticket sold through a website is not to increase during the purchase process, excluding reasonable fees for delivery of non-electronic tickets based on the delivery method selected by the purchaser prior to payment for the ticket. Lastly, under the bill, if a price is charged for admission to a venue, a place of entertainment, or their agent, representative, employee or licensee, cannot, exact, demand, accept, or receive, directly or indirectly, any premium or price in excess of the set price plus lawful taxes whether designated as price, gratuity, or otherwise. However, nothing is to be construed to prohibit: (1) a reasonable service charge by the place of entertainment or an agent in charge of special services for the place of entertainment, including, but not limited to, sales away from the box office, credit card sales, or delivery; or (2) a place of entertainment or its agent from offering initial sale tickets by means of an auction. A reasonable and actual cost for the physical delivery of tickets may be charged by a seller or reseller based on the method of delivery selected by the buyer, provided, however, that no delivery fee shall be charged by a seller or reseller for tickets delivered electronically or tickets that may be printed independently by the buyer.

Committee Categories

Patrick Diegnan (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Commerce Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document