Virginia Law Backs Ticket Reselling

A new state law will allow Virginians to resell tickets they’ve bought for concerts, football and basketball games, and other public events instead of being restricted, as with Ticketmaster. 

AP Photo / Eric Gay – Need Tickets?

Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed two bills March 3 that would protect people involved in reselling tickets. The law also says you can’t be turned away if you show up at an event with a ticket you received from someone else or bought on the secondary market, according to Capital News Service.

One of the measures – House Bill 1825 – was sponsored by Del. David Albo, R-Fairfax.

Albo paid about $400 via Ticketmaster for two tickets to see Iron Maiden before he realized that the concert conflicted with a family vacation.

That’s when he discovered he couldn’t resell, or even give away, those tickets because they were restricted to the ticketholder presenting a photo ID or the credit card used to buy the tickets at the door. 

A Ticketmaster spokeswoman previously told the WashingtonPost via email, “This scalper-friendly legislation is harmful to every sports and music fan in the Commonwealth, and the bill should be rejected just as it has been in other states across the country.”

The law, which should take effect July 1, could impose fines up to $5,000, Capital News said.