PA Lawmakers Want To Ban Deceitful Ticket Selling Practices

If you were able to secure tickets to see Taylor Swift when she graced Lincoln Financial Field in May, you were truly one of the lucky ones. Ticketmaster’s site crashed as Swifties spent hours trying to score seats, many with no success.

Another major issue was speculative ticketing: where sellers listed tickets that they didn’t actually have yet. Connecticut resident Scott Stanhope bought $2,600 tickets for his girlfriend, only to find out days before the show that the tickets did not exist.

Late last month, Pennsylvania House Rep. Robert Matzie introduced a bill to ban this widespread scheme to protect consumers. H/T to Stateline and Spotlight PA for covering this story.

In a memo announcing his measure, Matzie emphasized the plight of consumers, painting a picture of how detrimental this practice can be.

“Best case, you get a refund. Worst case, you’re defrauded and lose your money. Either way, you don’t have those tickets, the ones you thought you had. You may have already booked a hotel or made travel plans. Those deposits and fees may be gone as well,” Matzie wrote.

Matzie presented the measure before the House Consumer Protection, Technology & Utilities Committee on Thursday, Sept. 7.

Music industry and concert venue representatives also voiced their concerns to the committee, saying that speculative ticketing hurts consumers and local businesses, inflates ticket prices, and damages consumer confidence, among other detriments.

In a parallel effort, state Sens. Marty Flynn and Ryan Aument have introduced a bipartisan bill to crack down on speculative ticketing.

“In the world of ticket sales, the deceptive practices of some secondary resellers rob fans of what should be a joyful experience,” they wrote in a memo.