New TICKET Act Bans Hidden Fees and Speculative Sales: What It Means for Your Next Concert

If you’ve ever raged at a ticketing website after watching a $50 concert ticket morph into a $95 ticket at checkout, the TICKET Act (Transparency In Charges for Key Events Ticketing Act) is aimed squarely at you. This bill is a straight-up consumer protection play, forcing ticket sellers—both primary issuers and resale sites—to clean up their act regarding pricing, speculative sales, and refunds.

No More Fee Surprises: The Total Price Up Front

The biggest change rolling out 180 days after enactment is the death of the hidden fee game (SEC. 2). Ticket sellers will be legally required to display the Total Event Ticket Price (base price plus all fees) in any advertisement or price listing. This means when you see a ticket advertised for $100, that’s the price you pay, minus taxes (which are usually fixed). Throughout the entire purchase process, the seller must keep showing you that all-inclusive total. Only before you finalize the purchase must they provide the itemized breakdown—showing the Base Event Ticket Price separate from every Event Ticket Fee—but the total price can’t be a surprise anymore. This provision eliminates the infuriating practice of “drip pricing,” saving you time and preventing checkout shock.

Say Goodbye to Tickets That Don’t Exist

Section 3 tackles speculative ticketing, a practice that drives consumers nuts. Speculative selling is when a reseller lists a ticket for sale that they don’t actually own or possess yet, hoping to buy it later if it sells. The TICKET Act bans this practice entirely: no one can sell, offer to sell, or advertise a ticket unless they have actual or constructive possession of it. For everyday buyers, this means fewer phantom listings and less risk of buying a ticket that never materializes.

There is one exception: resale sites can still sell a service to help you acquire a ticket, but they have to be extremely clear about it. They must conspicuously label it as a service, separate it from actual ticket listings, and warn you upfront that buying the service does not guarantee you a ticket. This is where we need to watch out, as the language about “clear, obvious, and easily noticeable separation” (SEC. 3) could be exploited by less scrupulous sites trying to confuse busy buyers.

Resale Sites Must Drop the Official Act

If you’ve ever accidentally landed on a resale site that looked exactly like the official venue page, Section 4 is for you. This section requires secondary market sellers to give a clear warning before purchase that they are selling resale tickets. More importantly, they are banned from implying they are officially connected to the venue, team, or artist unless they have a formal partnership agreement. This extends to their web addresses: they can’t use the venue’s name in their URL to trick you into thinking they are the official seller.

Your Rights When the Show Doesn’t Go On

Section 5 sets clear rules for refunds when an event gets canceled or postponed. If the event is canceled, you get a full refund of the Total Event Ticket Price. Simple. If the event is postponed for more than six months, the buyer gets a choice: a full refund or a replacement ticket for the new date. This is a solid win for consumers, ensuring your money isn't tied up indefinitely.

However, there’s a nuance for shorter delays: if the event is postponed for six months or less, the seller is only required to give you a replacement ticket for the new date if your original ticket isn't valid, and they are not required to offer a refund. While understandable from a logistics standpoint, this means if your schedule changes due to a short delay, you might be stuck with a ticket you can’t use and no cash back.

Finally, the bill tasks the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with enforcing these new rules (SEC. 7) and requires them to report back to Congress on how they’ve been enforcing the existing BOTS Act (SEC. 6), which targets automated ticket-buying software. This suggests the government is serious about giving the FTC the tools and the mandate to police the entire ticketing ecosystem.