California Legislature Passes Spec Ticket Ban, But NIVA & Others Call For Veto

At the proverbial buzzer, the California Senate passed AB1349, a speculative tickets ban, and sent it to the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

In a twist, however, the National Independent Venue Association and allied groups are urging the Democrat to veto it, despite spec ticketing being a bugbear for the group and state-level bans on the practice being a goal.

As ever, the devil is in the details. The bill specifically exempts “ticket resale marketplaces” — sites like StubHub — from liability for spec ticket sells, while keeping that liability attached to venues and festivals, and so broadly defines terms that commonplace ticketing strategies, like presales, are classified as reselling. The bill was also amended to remove a requirement that secondary sellers list seat and row numbers on tickets listed for resale.

A last minute amendment also exempted professional sports teams from many provisions of the law.

The changes come after a multi-million dollar lobbying push in Sacramento from secondary sellers spearheaded by StubHub.

“AB 1349 could have been an opportunity to stop the sale of ghost tickets (tickets the person advertising and selling them do not possess) across the State of California, ensuring what happened during the World Cup and what happens every night at independent venues is illegal,” said Stephen Parker, NIVA’s Executive Director. “Instead, AB 1349 abdicates multibillion dollar resale platforms like StubHub from true accountability for selling ghost tickets. It puts the small businesses and nonprofits that put on shows every night at risk. And, it endangers fans’ economic wellbeing. Late amendments were adopted to remove danger for billion dollar sports teams while leaving artists, small businesses, and nonprofits exposed to unfathomable harm. This bill should not become law and we call upon Governor Newsom to veto it.”

Because the bill was passed at the end of the legislative session, Newsom has until the end of September to sign or veto the bill (rather than the standard 12 days).