FTC Mandates All-In Pricing As TICKET Act Gets Lame-Duck Life With Surprising Pushback

All-in pricing is now the rule industry-wide.

The Federal Trade Commission approved a rule Dec. 17 that requires businesses in the live-event ticketing and short-term lodging businesses disclose the total price including fees prominently and upfront in an effort to prevent sticker shock at checkout.

The rule goes into effect in mid-April 2025.

“People deserve to know up-front what they’re being asked to pay—without worrying that they’ll later be saddled with mysterious fees that they haven’t budgeted for and can’t avoid,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement. “The FTC’s rule will put an end to junk fees around live event tickets, hotels, and vacation rentals, saving Americans billions of dollars and millions of hours in wasted time. I urge enforcers to continue cracking down on these unlawful fees and encourage state and federal policymakers to build on this success with legislation that bans unfair and deceptive junk fees across the economy.”

The FTC estimated that the rule could save consumers up to 53 million hours of wasted time per year in searching for the total price of tickets and lodging.

The rule was approved 4-1. The lone dissenting vote came from Commissioner Andrew Ferguson, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to chair the FTC. In his own statement, Ferguson said his vote should not be interpreted as a judgment on the merits of the rule, but rather that he believes the Biden Administration should refrain from rulemaking in its lame-duck period.

Live Nation, which committed to all-in pricing for shows sold on Ticketmaster and held at its owned and operated venues last year, welcomed the new rule.

“We’ve led the industry by adopting all-in pricing at all Live Nation venues and festivals and applaud the FTC’s industry-wide mandate so fans will now be able to see the total price of a ticket right upfront no matter where they go to see a show or buy a ticket,” the company said in a statement.

In May, Live Nation said six month’s worth of all-in pricing had swelled its sales by 8%.

The new rule comes as the TICKET Act, which passed the U.S. House overwhelmingly earlier this year with broad bipartisan support, appears to have new life, riding on the coattails of the continuing resolution to fund the federal government, which the Senate may vote on as soon as this weekend.

The TICKET Act mandates all-in pricing and implements guardrails on the secondary market. It requires secondary sellers to disclose that fact. In addition, unless a specific agreement is in place making a partnership formal, a secondary seller cannot imply or suggest they are affiliated with a venue, team or artist. Further, secondary sites are prevented from using the name of artists, venues or teams in a deceptive way. Secondary sellers are also required to make their refund policies clear. The reforms would also require primary sellers to provide refunds for cancelled events or to provide replacement tickets in certain situations. It would also ban speculative ticketing.

When it moved through the House, the bill had broad support across industry stakeholders. The CR-riding Senate version, however, is opposed by the Fix the Tix Coalition, which says the bill includes loopholes that need closing.

Fix the Tix says the bill as written would “undermine” reforms passed at the state level in Maryland, MInnesota, Arizona, Massachusetts and Nevada; and that is doesn’t do enough to ban speculative ticketing or shore up the BOTS Act. In fact, because the Senate version doesn’t ban “concierge” or “Seat Saver” programs, Fix the Tix says it essentially allows for speculative ticketing under another name.

Fix the Tix has long advocated for the similar Fans First Act to supersede the TICKET Act.

The National Consumers League, however, is still pushing for the TICKET Act, saying it represents a “package of positive reforms” brought through “hard-fought compromise.”

“The TICKET Act is a hard-fought compromise and, we believe, Congress’ best chance to deliver meaningful reforms that benefit fans, venues, and artists as early as next summer’s concert season,” said John Breyault, NCL’s Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud. “We are disappointed that groups that had previously supported the bill have reversed themselves, though the bill has not significantly changed since they originally endorsed it.”

On the other hand, National Independent Venue Association Executive Director Stephen Parker says the NCL’s characterization of Fix The Tix’s position is misleading.

“It is unfortunate that disinformation from multi-billion dollar resale platforms and the organizations they fund—claiming to represent consumers’ interests—misled Congress into including a loophole that allows predatory brokers and resale platforms to sell fake tickets under a different name. They also prevented so many more common-sense reforms from making it into the final legislation, especially strengthening the BOTS Act. These groups chose empowering predators and fighting progress behind the scenes over genuine consumer protections,” he said.  “We will make it our mission to blunt, repeal, or strike down any federal provision that would directly or indirectly permit the sale of fake tickets.”