California Bill to Cap Concert Resale Ticket Prices Dies After Lobbying Frenzy

A California bill intended to limit how much tickets are allowed to be re-sold for in the state has failed, as AB 1720 failed to make it out of the Senate appropriations committee on Thursday.

AB 1720 was first introduced by state assembly member Matt Haney back in February. The bill as originally published would’ve capped concert ticket resale prices at no more than 10 percent higher than a ticket’s original price. Since its introduction, the bill was reduced with an amendment limiting the law to smaller 3,000-capacity or lower venues, removing a majority of the shows that usually draw much of the activity on secondary ticketing sites.

1720 had garnered support from groups like the National Independent Venue Association, Music Artist Coalition, National Independent Talent Organization and live music giant Live Nation, who argued the bill would help rein in ticket scalpers, who’d be unable to list tickets at extreme markups. The bill faced significant resistance from ticket resale platforms, with StubHub spending a record-high $3.4 million in lobbying expenses in California this year fighting the bill, including $2.6 million in this most recent quarter.

In a statement on the move, Haney said that he is “going to keep working with the coalition of fans, artists, and venues who recognize the urgency of this issue and continue pushing for solutions that put tickets back in the hands of the people they were intended for.”

“This isn’t a fringe idea, and it isn’t partisan,” Haney said. “From Kid Rock to Noah Kahan , artists across genres have called for solutions to runaway ticket resale practices. Independent venues have spoken out. Fans have demanded change. Several states and countries have already adopted resale caps because they recognize the urgency of this issue. AB 1720 would have helped remove the incentives that fuel predatory ticket resale while still allowing someone who can’t attend a show to resell their ticket and recover their costs.”

A rep for StubHub didn’t respond to request for comment on the bill’s failure on Thursday. Previously, the company told THR that we believe that more choice, flexibility, and access put fans first and help everyone get into the events they love.”

While California’s price cap bill has failed, similar bills have passed in other parts of the country including Maine, Vermont and Washington, D.C., while Massachusetts governor Maura Healey placed a price cap bill into the state’s supplemental spending bill last month.