BOSTON – A new Massachusetts law gives companies like Ticketmaster more control over who you can sell sports or concert tickets to if you can’t attend the game or show.
Buried in the massive economic development bill signed by Governor Maura Healey on Wednesday is a clause allowing these companies to limit who fans can transfer tickets to. Consumer watchdog groups like MASSPIRG disagree, saying people should be able to do whatever they want with the tickets they buy.
Law made to prevent scalping
“I can’t sell it to whoever I want, I can’t give it to my friends or family if I can’t go and so it really hurts the fans,” said MASSPIRG’s Deirdre Cummings.
An executive from Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation, defended the law, saying its purpose is to prevent ticket scalping.
“The issue is whether the professional ticket brokers and the ticket resale sites that support them can use their bots and all their other tactics to grab thousands and thousands of tickets that were intended for real fans and instead place them on resale marketplaces where they’re going to double the price,” said Dan Wall, Live Nation’s vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs.
Restrictions on how tickets can be resold
The new law requires ticket buyers to sell tickets on the original platform where they purchased them, rather than on other secondary markets, as long as the company notifies them of the policy first.
“Ticketmaster will buy it at a lower face value and then sell it at a higher face value,” Cummings said. “And that’s what keeps ticket prices high.”
Live Nation argued that the new law protects artists, sports teams and fans themselves.
“This isn’t about someone getting sick and not being able to go to a show,” Wall said.
Tiffany Chan
