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Washington, D.C. has passed legislation that is set to make the nation’s capital the most stringent anti-scalping marketplace in the U.S. for concert tickets.
The District of Columbia Council unanimously passed the RESALE Act on Tuesday, a piece of legislation that most notably will cap ticket resale prices for concerts in the city at 10 percent above the ticket’s original face value, a move that could significantly curb markups on secondary ticketing sites such as StubHub and Vivid Seats.
The act also includes a ban on speculative tickets, the controversial strategy where ticket brokers list tickets for sale that they don’t actually possess yet. Further, those who sell more than 50 concert tickets per year on resale markets will be required to register with D.C. to continue operating.
Washington adopting these policies is particularly noteworthy as D.C. is one of the bigger touring stops in the music business, home to larger venues like the Capital One Arena and Nationals Park, as well as famed smaller spots like the 9:30 club. The city’s policies could serve as a framework for how similarly sized markets could operate.
“Washington, D.C. has raised the bar for ticketing reform nationwide by establishing the strongest consumer protection framework in the country that should be replicated in every state,” Stephen Parker, Executive Director of the National Independent Venue Association, said in a statement. “From the resale price cap to stronger safeguards against deceptive ticketing practices, the RESALE Act puts fans first and strengthens the District’s independent stages.”
Major markups on secondary ticketing platforms is one of several issues that have contributed to widespread frustration from fans about the concert market, along with other common complaints such as high fees, long, slow-moving queues and dynamic pricing. The act applies to concerts but not to sporting events.
“Today, the DC Council stood with DC’s most beloved and iconic music venues, with our storied theaters, and with every music and live theater fan who’s tired of getting ripped off and priced out,” Councilmember Charles Allen, said in a statement. “Ticket resellers have used technology and unrestrained profits to turn our live entertainment scene into the wild west – just last week it was revealed StubHub has been running a major ticket scalping operation while they’ve argued they’re just a platform for fans to sell extra tickets. People are sick of Big Tech wringing more and more money out of them. DC is a leader here and I expect many other jurisdictions to step in once they see we can save our residents money and keep more dollars in our local economy instead of propping up Big Tech.”
Allen’s later statement on StubHub is referring to a CBC investigation that found that StubHub CEO Eric Baker has a separate business to sell concert tickets. The company and Baker were subject to a class-action lawsuit over the matter earlier this week.
While D.C. has the most aggressive legislation to date, it’s not the only market passing legislation to crack down on the ticketing business. Vermont passed a similar law capping resale prices earlier this year — with Noah Kahan coming out in support of the bill — though that cap was at a much looser 110 percent increase of the face value price. Meanwhile, both New York and California are considering legislation on resale price caps as well.
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