A divided Congress agrees: Buying concert tickets is frustrating and needs to be fixed.

By Andrew Keshner

A new bill with bipartisan support requires total ticket prices and fees to be displayed up front

Just before summer concert season heats up, the U.S. House of Representatives resoundingly passed a bill Wednesday that would mandate more transparency on ticket prices for live events and ban practices that jack up concert prices.

At a time when Americans are supersensitive to rising prices and hidden costs, the 388-24 approval of the Ticket Act seems to be a sign that lawmakers from both parties are getting the message, even when they are far apart on other issues.

The bill requires total prices and fees to be displayed up front on a range of tickets, including those for concerts, shows and sporting events. It bans ticket sales where the seller does not own the ticket and mandates refunds for event cancellations and postponements.

Compared with airplane tickets, sporting events and movies, concert tickets were most likely to have a higher final price than initial price, respondents to a July poll said.

Last year, Live Nation Entertainment Inc. (LYV), the Ticketmaster parent company, said it would start showing complete ticket prices up front, as the Biden administration campaigned to end what it called junk fees.

Live Nation's all-in pricing policy produced an 8% increase in completed sales during the first six months of operation, the company said Tuesday. The company "applauds House lawmakers for advancing the Ticket Act," a spokesperson told MarketWatch.

Consumer advocate Erin Witte said the same.

People "are tired of feeling buying a ticket is like going to war, and there is still work to be done to make ticket sales more competitive, but this is a great step forward," said Witte, who is the director of consumer protection at the Consumer Federation of America.

The Ticket - or Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing - bill now heads to the Senate. If passed and signed into law, the rules would go into effect 180 days later. Summer 2024 events will have come and gone by then, but lawmakers say the bill would still provide a ray of hope for fans.

"This consensus legislation will end deceptive ticketing practices that frustrate consumers who simply want to enjoy a concert, show, or sporting event by restoring fairness and transparency to the ticket marketplace," said a statement from some of the bill's backers, including Rep. Gus Bilirakis, a Republican from Florida, and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat from Illinois.

The bill's broad bipartisan support could pressure the Senate to act - but the question is how quickly that might happen, said Owen Tedford, senior research analyst at Beacon Policy Advisors, a policy research firm advising institutional investors.

The bill could be fast-tracked for a vote ahead of lawmakers' summer break if there's enough political will, Tedford said. Or it may have to wait for consideration and a potential vote at the end of the year.

The Ticket Act is an "easy messaging win for politicians with voters," said Tedford, noting that the bill simply makes all fees and costs visible at the start and does not change fee structures. The wide vote margin in the House signals a lack of controversy among lawmakers, which may also signal a lack of controversy on the measure within the ticketing industry.

The type of price transparency required in the bill may be "the lowest common denominator for the industry to accept as some kind of change to be made," Tedford said.

A Live Nation spokesperson said the company also supports "other ticketing reforms like enhancing anti-bot legislation and banning speculative ticketing and other predatory resale practices. Bipartisan support for these reforms show that protecting fans and artists is in everyone's interest."

While inflation creeps lower, the Ticket Act is another effort on Capitol Hill to address consumer costs, or at least give consumers more clarity on pricing.

When airlines cancel or significantly change flights, they now have to give passengers automatic cash refunds, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation rule finalized last month.

The same day House lawmakers passed the Ticket bill, they easily passed a $105 billion bill for the Federal Aviation Administration. Its provisions included automatic refunds after canceled and significantly delayed flights, according to the Associated Press. It also contains a ban on fees for family members who want to be seated together.

The final vote on that bill was 387-26.

How have ticket prices for live events affected you? MarketWatch wants to hear from readers who have experiences to share. If you'd like to get in touch, write to us at readerstories@marketwatch.com.

-Andrew Keshner

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05-17-24 1231ET

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