Senate Committee To Take Up Re-Introduced TICKET Act

The TICKET Act — the package of ticketing reforms that’s come oh-so-close to becoming law in the last two years — is back again in the Senate and due for a critical committee hearing Feb. 5, but there’s still plenty of questions as to what this version of the bill will look like.

Sens. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) and Ed Markey (D-WA) introduced the bill Jan. 28 with the caption of “A bill to require sellers of event tickets to disclose comprehensive information to consumers about ticket prices and related fees, to prohibit speculative ticketing, and for other purposes,” but the text of the bill is not yet available. Generally, the initial text of a proposed law is published within a day or two of its introduction.

Presumably, it will be ready when it goes to mark-up in the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Technology Committee Wednesday.

The bullet points on the bill are broadly similar to what passed the House by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in 2024. The bill would mandate all-in pricing, though upfront disclosure of fees has been enshrined as a regulation after the Federal Trade Commission mandated it by rule last year. The new version would also purportedly ban speculative ticketing, crack down on misleading websites, require more rapid refunds for canceled events and mandate an FTC study on the usage of bots in ticketing purchases.

The TICKET Act very nearly made it to then-President Joe Biden’s desk last year as there were attempts for the law to hitch a ride on the back on the continuing resolution negotiated on a bicameral, bipartisan basis to keep the government operating, before the original version of the CR was scuttled after opposition from then-President-elect Donald Trump and his confidante Elon Musk.

But even that version faced some unusual opposition, as the Fix The Tix Coalition, which has long advocated for ticketing reform, pushed back, saying that the bill left open loopholes that would still allow for certain forms of spec ticketing. In addition, Fix The Tix and others said the CR-riding version undermined state-level ticketing reforms, benefiting the secondary market.

A companion bill for the new TICKET Act has not been filed in the House.

The Commerce Committee — which is scheduled to conduct hearings Wednesday on Trump’s Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick, as well — also set the new version of the American Music Tourism Act for mark-up. That bill was also included in the original, but ultimately unsuccessful continuing resolution, and is aimed at encouraging music-related tourism.