U.S. Rep. Bill Pacrell, Jr., a New Jersey Democrat who has staked out improving ticketing as one of his causes, is introducing new legislation designed to make ticket sales more transparent.
Nicknamed “The BOSS ACT,” which stands for Better Oversight of Secondary Sales and Accountability in Concert Ticketing Act, the proposal has separate parts for the primary and secondary ticket markets to bring a “basic level of transparency” and consumer protections to the ticket industry.
“The BOSS ACT is designed to give regular fans a fair chance to purchase reasonably priced tickets for their favorite performances and events,” Rep. Pascrell said in a statement. “I’m tired of the little guy being squeezed out of stadiums so that corporate giants can make a few extra bucks. The BOSS ACT is a comprehensive measure with the potential to overhaul an industry that has gone unchecked for far too long.”
From a summary of the act, the proposal calls for the primary market:
Requires basic disclosures as listed below:
-Requires the primary ticket seller to make public the number of tickets available for purchase to the public and to disclose the number of tickets withheld from public sale
-Requires the primary ticket seller to disclose all ancillary charges by printing charges and the total ticket price on each ticket
-Requires primary ticket seller to print the method of distribution, date and time of sale on each ticket
Prohibits registered ticket brokers from purchasing tickets during the first 48 hours of the primary sale.
Requires the primary seller to refund all ancillary charges, in addition to the base ticket cost, when concerts or other events are cancelled.
For the secondary ticket market:
Requires secondary ticket sellers to register with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and provide basic contact information. Each broker will receive a unique identification number.
Requires secondary ticket sellers to disclose the following information when offering a ticket for resale:
-The face value of the ticket (including ancillary charges)
-The original distribution method or how the seller obtained the ticket.
-The precise location of the seat, or if this information is not available, descriptive information about the location (such as row or section)
-The broker’s FTC identifier number.
-A clear statement whether or not the seller possesses the ticket at the time of the sale.
Requires secondary sales website to clearly indicate that tickets are being offered for resale so that consumers are properly informed.
Prohibits primary ticketing companies, artists, promoters and their employees from reselling tickets to any event that their employer is involved in hosting, promoting, performing in, or ticketing for more than face value, or reselling tickets to parties with actual knowledge that they have the intention of reselling for higher than face value.
In April, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, announced he was planning to introduce vaguely similar legislation that called for a waiting period before tickets could be resold, but that bill is still being drafted.
Pascrell’s bill plays on The Boss nickname of rocker Bruce Springsteen who has been at the center of a ticketing controversy this year, and it comes as New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram aggressively goes after several secondary ticket companies that allegedly sold tickets to some Springsteen’s shows before the tickets were available to the general public.
Last Updated on June 2, 2009
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What I find most ironic about this proposal and Schumer’s proposal is that they seem to want to regulate the country because of a few isolated problems in NY and NJ, and they want their laws to override those of the individual state laws. Not every state has no handle on their brokers the way that NY and NJ do. Most states actually have ticket laws that work, which is why the Hannah Montana/Bruce Springsteen nonsense wasn’t so widespread.
“I’m tired of the little guy being squeezed out of stadiums so that corporate giants can make a few extra bucks. The BOSS ACT is a comprehensive measure with the potential to overhaul an industry that has gone unchecked for far too long.”
The funny thing about this comment is that it illustrates how little he knows about the secondary market. The majority of brokers aren’t “corporate giants” but rather small business owners who he is going to be taking money out of their pockets if this ridiculously-named “BOSS Act” passes. As for going unchecked, I would argue that the laws that were passed over the last 5-7 years opening up the ticket market in most states have actually resulted in more accountability for the secondary market as it pushed them out of a shadow industry and into a legitimate mainstream industry. This law would just reverse that progress and push most of the non-“corporate giant” brokers back into the underground industry they were ten years ago.
Finally, what’s most disappointing and telling about this whole attack on the secondary industry is that none of the companies who have made millions off that industry are willing to stick up for it. Companies like StubHub/eBay, TICKETNETWORK, Razor Gator, etc. seem to be keeping relatively silent on the issue rather than organizing their brokers into contacting legislators and making these politicians aware of the benefits of the secondary market. It’s sad that for all the years these companies have made millions off the hard work of ticket brokers, that they are now just willing to sell them out and let them take it up the ass from a bunch of uninformed legislators trying to win publicity points. Shame on you, TicketNetwork.
I know that at least StubHub/eBay, TicketNetwork, and the NATB have all been working on the legislative effort. Laws affecting ticket resale are popping up all over the country and those groups are trying to get lobbyists in there to handle the situation. In Florida I’m pretty sure there was an effort to organize the brokers. I’m not sure about elsewhere. And then there’s this news site keeping brokers up to date on pending legislation.
This isn’t just a NY/NJ issue. It’s a national issue. The big aggregators have to be everywhere at once. It’s not in StubHub/eBay, TicketNetwork, or RazorGator’s best interest to “sell out” the brokers. I expect they’re making some kind of effort. I’d suggest that brokers call their exchanges to find out exactly what that effort is and how to get involved.
I agree with a lot of what you’re saying, but I don’t think the exchanges can afford to be passive with their brokers on this. I don’t think they should wait for brokers to call them to tell them what they should be doing. The exchanges like StubHub, TN, RG, etc. should be actively contacting their brokers to get them involved.
As for the NATB, don’t even get me started with those clowns. The chairman is getting sued by the NJ AG for short-selling tickets he didn’t have. Because of that, the NATB has little credibility in pursuing brokers’ interests until they can find leadership that themselves follow the rules and guidelines that they set forth for other brokers. The chairman should resign and Select-A-Seat should be suspended from the NATB, as should TicketsNow. If the NATB wants to represent brokers’ interests, then they need to show that they represent the values in their mission statement, and until they do, they are doing far more harm than good for the secondary market right now.
These politians, including Shumer, are looking for attention from the performers to further their own cause. The proposed national legislation falls very short of helping the consumer obtain tickets at “face-value”. What happened to the day where the real fans could buy tickets at the venue for face value? Furthermore, who’s going to be the “ticket czar” to enforce this legislation ? Being a CA ticket broker since 1970, and having front line experience with fighting and writing tickets specific legislation this National proposition will never happen ! As far as the NATB, they having always been the “boiler plate” version of the CATA ( California Assoc. of Ticket Agencies).
It’s time for the people to stand up against tyrants in our House of Rep.,& Senate they can’t even take care of the country’s business,now they are looking to regulate everyone’s pay and or profit.It is truly time to get rid of these incompetent bafoons before we all wind up on welfare.Ticket Master is at fault here,not the brokers.Lately it seems that the Democratic Party is truly Anti-Business,this means less Tax Revenue for the country to pay there bills.Let’s do what we can to vote these Socialists out of office.Maybe they can get a job with the Bruce Springsteen posse.Broker’s need to smarten up and stop buying his tickets,let’see if he can live like a king waiting for the every day person to buy his tickets.We helped create that ingrate’s popularity by selling out all his shows,and when we do he add’s more shows trying to break the brokers by increasing more shows,he does it all the time.If there’s plenty of tickets left he will lose his appeal to the public,and I believe it will soon have a great effect on his Kingly & Tyrannical attitude,I’m sure it will effect his lifestyle.