Colorado Governor Jared Polis has signed into law a new set of consumer protection and transparency rules for tickets sold in the state, passed with strong bipartisan support as HB24-1378. The new law is designed to combat deceptive practices regarding tickets listed for sale in the state, bringing “all-in” ticket price transparency for consumers, guarantee refunds for cancelled shows, and ban the use of websites that impersonate a venue or competing ticket seller.
“Taylor’s worldwide Eras Tour opened many people’s eyes to the Bad Blood between Coloradans and Hoax ticketing scams. This bill protects concert-goers from a Labyrinth of hidden fees and helps ensure Coloradans don’t have another Cruel Summer filled with fraudulent tickets. Today, Coloradans are closer than ever to being Out of the Woods from scams,” said Governor Polis in a press release announcing his signing of the bill among others.
HB24-1378 will:
- Prohibit hidden fees by instituting all-in, up-front price transparency
- Ban any increase of the ticket price after a consumer selects the ticket for purchase
- Guarantee refunds for canceled shows
- Ban the use of deceptive websites which impersonate a venue or seller
“Going to see your favorite artist or team should not be an exercise in frustration in Colorado or anywhere else,” said John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud at the National Consumers League. “Thanks to pro-consumer leaders like Governor Polis, Rep. Lindstedt, Rep. Valdez, Sen. Gardner, and Sen. Sullivan, buying a ticket to a concert or a sporting event will now be a far simpler and fairer experience for millions of Coloradans.”
The new consumer protections and transparency rules build upon Colorado’s already strong protections for ticket buyers, which have long been lauded by consumer advocates as a “gold standard” for other legislatures to model their own ticketing reform plans after. Other states with this critical protection of the consumer right to user, transfer, donate, or resell tickets they’ve purchased without unlawful interference from the original seller include New York, Connecticut, Illinois, Virginia, and Utah. Efforts to bring similar consumer protections to other states have been met with fierce resistance by a lobbying apparatus driven largely by Live Nation Entertainment in California.
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“We applaud Colorado for taking these important steps to protect consumers and put fans closer to the front of the line,” said Consumer Federation of California Executive Director Robert Herrell of the Colorado bill’s passage. “With this law Colorado has jumped in front of California and many other states. We congratulate Governor Polis and the legislative champions for their efforts.”
A year ago, Gov. Polis vetoed a ticket reform bill pushed by industry insiders that would have largely undone many of those consumer protections by allowing teams, venues, and their preferred ticketing vendors to effectively regulate their own competition.
FURTHER READING | Colorado Go. Polis Vetos Controversial Ticketmaster-Backed Bill
This bill’s signing comes amid something of a reckoning for the ticketing business, as Ticketmaster and Live Nation have been targeted by a massive antitrust lawsuit filed by the DOJ and 30 state attorneys general – including Colorado’s.