Md. Hears Ticketing Bill

Maryland lawmakers began legislative hearings March 1 to consider prohibiting the restriction of ticket resales for entertainment and sports events, pitting Ticketmaster and venues against resellers like StubHub.

The aim, according to supporters of the legislation, is to protect ticketbuyers who sell or give away what they view as their own property.

Opponents say the restrictions protect ticketbuyers from scalpers and bots, according to the Baltimore Sun. Under current law, primary ticket sellers can impose restrictions on how tickets may be transferred. In the waning days of his administration, former President Barack Obama signed into law a bill banning bots, though its effectiveness is not yet clear.

– Ticketmaster

State Sen. Brian Feldman, the bill’s sponsor, says there are too many such restrictions.

“Most Marylanders, I believe, think they have a property right to that ticket and they have the …freedom to transfer that ticket if they can’t make the event,” he told the Sun.

Maryland lawmakers believe they have momentum with the passage of a similar bill in the Virginia legislature. It’s believed the Maryland bill would force primary ticketers like Ticketmaster to offer unrestricted tickets to entertainment and sporting events, which could be resold on platforms like StubHub.

Rep. Bill Frick told the Sun he agreed to sponsor the House version of the bill. “Technology is changing the ticket and event experience, and it can either change it to empower consumers or restrict rights most of us take for granted,” Frick told the paper.

Ticketmaster VP and senior counsel Robert Wernick told the Sun the legislation enables scalping and the restrictions are among the strategies the company uses to combat bots.

“We are working tirelessly to combat bots,” Wernick said. “It’s an arms race.”

He added that most tickets are already transferable and can be resold on Ticketmaster’s secondary exchange.

There’s no limit on price, but TM does impose a fee of about 10 percent. The legislation is also opposed by many venue execs, including Ron Legler of the Hippodrome Performing Arts Center in Baltimore, who was to testify against it.

Legler told the Sun that since the Hippodrome takes 100 percent of the risk on its shows, it should have control of how to sell its tickets, and uses Ticketmaster.

“If we decide Ticketmaster’s the official way to sell our tickets, that’s the way the world works,” Legler told the Sun.

The Baltimore Ravens, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and Royal Farms Arena also reportedly oppose the bill, according to the paper.