Minnesota moves one step closer to transparent ticket sales

The Minnesota House of Representatives Wednesday, May 6, voted overwhelmingly to approve a new measure that would not only require all of an event's tickets be made available when tickets go on sale, it would also prohibit companies from rerouting customers from a primary ticket source to a secondary one.

The proposed bill, SF0759, must next gain approval from the state Senate before moving to Gov. Tim Pawlenty's desk for his signature. Senate approval is all but assured because they have already worked on the proposal's language. See the video below.

The proposed bill states, "The initial seller of tickets shall make available for sale all tickets under control of the initial seller in the manner and under terms directed by the provider of the event or venue. The initial seller shall not, unless authorized by the provider of the event or venue, divert tickets from the initial sale to the general public to be sold in any other manner or under any other terms. No person or entity, with intent to defraud, may sell a ticket that is invalid, counterfeit, altered, or otherwise not genuine."

Legislators created the bill in part to help protect Minnesota residents from the same type of situation that occurred with Ticketmaster and its TicketsNow subsidiary when fans were allegedly rerouted to TicketsNow to buy Bruce Springsteen tickets at higher prices.