The recent rejection of multiple consumer-friendly amendments to a Ticketmaster-backed bill in Colorado has drawn condemnation from a group of consumer rights organizations, who have urged that the bill be rejected in its current form. The Ticket Buyer Bill of Rights coalition slammed the decision by lawmakers to revert the bill to its original language, which they say gives “permission to Live Nation’s Ticketmaster and AEG’s AXS to deceive consumers when tickets go on sale, and to turn a blind eye to illegal software bots that scoop up tickets before humans can instead of reporting their usage to law enforcement.”
As originally drafted, the so-called “Consumer Protection in Event Ticketing Sales” bill – SB23-060 – would allow companies like Live Nation, Ticketmaster, AXS and AEG to effectively eliminate competition on the secondary ticket market by empowering them to declare any tickets posted for resale to be “fraudulent.” The Colorado House of Representatives amended the bill to include two consumer protections – the disclosure of deceptive “ticket holdbacks” that involve tickets secretly not being made available when tickets go on sale to the public, and the reporting of illegal software bot usage when buying tickets. But the state senate opted to reject those amendments as “unworkable.”
The groups are now calling on Colorado Governor Jared Polis to veto the bill if it passes the legislature.
“Governor Polis should take advantage of this opportunity to level the playing field for consumers,” said Erin Witte, Director of Consumer Protection for Consumer Federation of America. “Fans deserve to be prioritized, not deceived and forced to compete with bots to see their favorite artists.”
The full letter is included below:
Denver, CO – In removing vital consumer protection amendments to live event ticketing legislation moving through the Colorado General Assembly, today lawmakers in Denver gave permission to Live Nation’s Ticketmaster and AEG’s AXS to deceive consumers when tickets go on sale, and to turn a blind eye to illegal software bots that scoop up tickets before humans can instead of reporting their usage to law enforcement. As such, the Ticket Buyer Bill of Rights Coalition, including some of America’s leading consumer protection organizations, are now calling on Colorado Governor Jared Polis to veto SB23-60.
While consumer advocates initially opposed SB23-060, through the amendment process it eventually earned the endorsement of consumer advocates despite remaining flawed in several ways. As lawmakers today removed these vital consumer protections and transparency measures, referring to the amendments as “unworkable and unworthy,” these organizations rescind their support.
The original draft of Senate Bill 23-060 while titled “Consumer Protection in Event Ticketing Sales” was not designed to protect consumers. Instead, it cleverly consolidated power to favor the ticketing duopoly of Ticketmaster and AXS to the detriment of the very “consumers” the bill claimed to protect. These were the companies that pushed for the legislation and participated in its initial drafting. The Colorado House of Representatives amended the bill to include two vital consumer protections – the disclosure of deceptive “ticket holdbacks” that involve tickets secretly not being made available when tickets go on sale to the public, and the reporting of illegal software bot usage when buying tickets.
“Governor Polis should take advantage of this opportunity to level the playing field for consumers,” said Erin Witte, Director of Consumer Protection for Consumer Federation of America. “Fans deserve to be prioritized, not deceived and forced to compete with bots to see their favorite artists.”
“Live event fans in Colorado deserve better than a bill that will reinforce the market dominance of a multi-billion-dollar live event monopolist,” said John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud at the National Consumers League. “We urge Governor Polis to veto this bill and stand with fans who are tired of fighting a rigged system just to get tickets to their favorite events.”
“There was nothing about these amendments that were ‘unworthy’ or ‘unworkable,’ in fact the opposite is true,” said Brian Hess, Executive Director for Sports Fans Coalition. Today’s conference committee proves that consumers were never at the heart of this bill. It’s bad for sports fans, it’s bad for consumers, it’s bad for Colorado. Governor Polis should veto this bill immediately upon passage.”
Ticket holdbacks are deceptive: Sellers withhold up to HALF of all tickets for shows.
This is a well-documented problem that has been investigated by the US GAO, New York Attorney General, and the City and County of Honolulu. It is not uncommon for up to half of the tickets for an event to be secretly held back from the public when tickets go on sale. This scheme was a huge problem for the Taylor Swift tour, as was documented by the Wall Street Journal. The Journal estimated that 94% of Swift tickets were held back for those with special or exclusive access. Yet while Ticketmaster initially claimed tickets had sold out, still today Ticketmaster continues to send out access codes for held back Taylor Swift tickets.
This deceptive industry scheme creates fake scarcity to induce a ticket-buying frenzy so that consumers panic, and in believing there are scarce tickets left, are compelled to buy now. Consumers without special or exclusive access to pre-sales are abused during the public on-sale of tickets, where they may miss work and spend hours in an online waiting room only to be left with intentionally opaque options. When the true inventory of tickets is not presented to fans, they are not capable of making the best possible purchase decision.
Ticket Bots are Illegal and Should Be Reported to Law Enforcement
Software bots used to purchase tickets may certainly be a problem, but they are also an easy scapegoat for Ticketmaster and AXS. These corporations blame bots for ruining the fan experience, but the fact is federal law already prohibits the use of bots to buy tickets to events. This law has only been enforced once, however, because these ticket sellers are not reporting this insidious activity to law enforcement. Due to their substantial size in the marketplace, these companies are in the best position to stop bots by coordinating with law enforcement, and reporting requirements are a logical step to improving the fan experience. Unfortunately, a requirement to report bot usage to law enforcement was removed from SB23-060 today.
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The Ticket Buyer Bill of Rights Coalition was founded in February 2023 by leading consumer and fan advocacy organizations to offer a framework for ticketing legislation that can improve the market that serves millions of fans each year. The Bill of Rights features five pillars; The Right to Transferability, The Right to Transparency, The Right to Set the Price, The Right to a Fair Marketplace and The Right to Recourse. www.ticketbuyerbillofrights.org. The Ticket Buyer’s Bill of Rights has been endorsed by National Consumers League, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Federation of California Consumer Action, National Association of Consumer Advocates, Public Knowledge, Sports Fans Coalition, Virginia Citizen Consumer Council, Protect Ticket Rights, and Fan Freedom.
