II Calendar No. 207 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1303 To require sellers of event tickets to disclose comprehensive information to consumers about ticket prices and related fees. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 26, 2023 Mr. CRUZ (for himself and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 Reported by Ms. CANTWELL, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To require sellers of event tickets to disclose comprehensive information to consumers about ticket prices and related fees. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transparency In 4 Charges for Key Events Ticketing Act’’ or the ‘‘TICKET 5 Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Sep 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1303.RS S1303 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1303 RS SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) COMMISSION; EVENT; EVENT TICKET; TICK- 3 ET ISSUER.—The terms ‘‘Commission’’, ‘‘event’’, 4 ‘‘event ticket’’, and ‘‘ticket issuer’’ have the same 5 meanings as in the Better Online Ticket Sales Act 6 of 2016 (Public Law 114–274). 7 (2) BASE EVENT TICKET PRICE.—The term 8 ‘‘base event ticket price’’ means, with respect to an 9 event ticket, the price of the event ticket excluding 10 the cost of any event ticket fees. 11 (3) TOTAL EVENT TICKET PRICE.—The term 12 ‘‘total event ticket price’’ means, with respect to an 13 event ticket, the total cost of the event ticket, includ- 14 ing the base event ticket price and any event ticket 15 fees. 16 (4) EVENT TICKET FEE.—The term ‘‘event 17 ticket fee’’ means a charge that must be paid in ad- 18 dition to the base event ticket price in order to ob- 19 tain an event ticket from a ticket issuer or sec- 20 ondary market ticket issuer, including service fees, 21 charge and order processing fees, delivery fees, facil- 22 ity charge fees, taxes, and other charges, and does 23 not include any charge or fee for an optional product 24 or service associated with the event that may be se- 25 lected by a purchaser of an event ticket. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Sep 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1303.RS S1303 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1303 RS (5) OPTIONAL PRODUCT OR SERVICE.—The 1 term ‘‘optional product or service’’ means a product 2 or service that an individual does not need to pur- 3 chase to use or take possession of an event ticket. 4 (6) SECONDARY MARKET TICKET ISSUER.—The 5 term ‘‘secondary market ticket issuer’’ means any 6 entity for which it is in the regular course of the 7 trade or business of the entity to resell or make a 8 secondary sale of an event ticket to the general pub- 9 lic. 10 (7) RESALE; SECONDARY SALE.—The terms 11 ‘‘resale’’ and ‘‘secondary sale’’ mean any sale of an 12 event ticket that occurs after the initial sale of the 13 event ticket by a ticket issuer. 14 SEC. 3. TICKET TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS. 15 (a) DISCLOSURE OF PRICING INFORMATION.—Begin- 16 ning 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, it 17 shall be unlawful for a ticket issuer or secondary market 18 ticket issuer to offer for sale an event ticket unless the 19 ticket issuer or secondary market ticket issuer clearly and 20 conspicuously displays the total event ticket price in any 21 advertisement, marketing, or price list wherever the ticket 22 is offered for sale and clearly and conspicuously discloses 23 to any individual who seeks to purchase an event ticket 24 at the beginning of the transaction and prior to the indi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Sep 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1303.RS S1303 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1303 RS vidual’s selection of an event ticket to purchase, the total 1 event ticket price and an itemized list of the base event 2 ticket price and each event ticket fee. 3 (b) DISCLOSURE OF SPECULATIVE TICKETING.—Be- 4 ginning 90 days after enactment of this Act, it shall be 5 unlawful for a ticket issuer or secondary market ticket 6 issuer that does not have actual or constructive possession 7 of an event ticket to sell or offer for sale the event ticket 8 unless the ticket issuer or secondary market ticket issuer 9 displays in a clear and conspicuous manner and prior to 10 an individual’s selection of an event ticket to purchase a 11 statement that the ticket issuer or secondary market ticket 12 issuer does not possess the ticket at the time the ticket 13 is being sold or offered for sale. 14 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 15 (a) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACT OR PRACTICE.—A 16 violation of section 3 shall be treated as a violation of a 17 rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice under 18 section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 19 (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 20 (b) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall en- 22 force section 3 in the same manner, by the same 23 means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and 24 duties as though all applicable terms and provisions 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Sep 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1303.RS S1303 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1303 RS of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 1 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of 2 this Act. 3 (2) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any person 4 who violates section 3 shall be subject to the pen- 5 alties and entitled to the privileges and immunities 6 provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 7 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 8 (3) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in this 9 Act shall be construed to limit the authority of the 10 Commission under any other provision of law. 11 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 12 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transparency in 13 Charges for Key Events Ticketing Act’’ or the ‘‘TICKET 14 Act’’. 15 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 16 In this Act: 17 (1) COMMISSION; EVENT TICKET; TICKET 18 ISSUER.—The terms ‘‘Commission’’, ‘‘event ticket’’, 19 and ‘‘ticket issuer’’ have the same meanings as in the 20 Better Online Ticket Sales Act of 2016 (Public Law 21 114–274). 22 (2) BASE EVENT TICKET PRICE.—The term ‘‘base 23 event ticket price’’ means, with respect to an event 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Sep 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1303.RS S1303 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1303 RS ticket, the price of the event ticket excluding the cost 1 of any event ticket fees. 2 (3) EVENT.—The term ‘‘event’’ means any live 3 concert, theatrical performance, sporting event, show, 4 or similarly scheduled live activity, taking place in a 5 venue with a seating or attendance capacity exceeding 6 200 persons that is— 7 (A) open to the general public; and 8 (B) promoted, advertised, or marketed in 9 interstate commerce, or for which event tickets 10 are generally sold or distributed in interstate 11 commerce. 12 (4) TOTAL EVENT TICKET PRICE.—The term 13 ‘‘total event ticket price’’ means, with respect to an 14 event ticket, the total cost of the event ticket, includ- 15 ing the base event ticket price and any event ticket 16 fees. 17 (5) EVENT TICKET FEE.—The term ‘‘event ticket 18 fee’’ means a charge that must be paid in addition 19 to the base event ticket price in order to obtain an 20 event ticket from a ticket issuer or secondary market 21 ticket issuer, including service fees, charge and order 22 processing fees, delivery fees, facility charge fees, 23 taxes, and other charges, and does not include any 24 charge or fee for an optional product or service associ- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Sep 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1303.RS S1303 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1303 RS ated with the event that may be selected by a pur- 1 chaser of an event ticket. 2 (6) OPTIONAL PRODUCT OR SERVICE.—The term 3 ‘‘optional product or service’’ means a product or 4 service that an individual does not need to purchase 5 to use or take possession of an event ticket. 6 (7) SECONDARY MARKET TICKET ISSUER.—The 7 term ‘‘secondary market ticket issuer’’ means any en- 8 tity for which it is in the regular course of the trade 9 or business of the entity to resell or make a secondary 10 sale of an event ticket to the general public. 11 (8) RESALE; SECONDARY SALE.—The terms ‘‘re- 12 sale’’ and ‘‘secondary sale’’ mean any sale of an event 13 ticket that occurs after the initial sale of the event 14 ticket by a ticket issuer. 15 SEC. 3. ALL-INCLUSIVE TICKET PRICE DISCLOSURE. 16 Beginning 120 days after the date of enactment of this 17 Act, it shall be unlawful for a ticket issuer or secondary 18 market ticket issuer to offer for sale an event ticket unless 19 the ticket issuer or secondary market ticket issuer— 20 (1) clearly and conspicuously displays the total 21 event ticket price, if a price is displayed, in any ad- 22 vertisement, marketing, or price list wherever the tick- 23 et is offered for sale; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Sep 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1303.RS S1303 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1303 RS (2) clearly and conspicuously discloses to any in- 1 dividual who seeks to purchase an event ticket the 2 total event ticket price at the time the ticket is first 3 displayed to the individual and anytime thereafter 4 throughout the ticket purchasing process; and 5 (3) provides an itemized list of the base event 6 ticket price and each event ticket fee. 7 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 8 (a) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACT OR PRACTICE.—A vio- 9 lation of section 3 shall be treated as a violation of a rule 10 defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice under section 11 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 12 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 13 (b) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall enforce 15 section 3 in the same manner, by the same means, 16 and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as 17 though all applicable terms and provisions of the Fed- 18 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) 19 were incorporated into and made a part of this Act. 20 (2) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any person 21 who violates section 3 shall be subject to the penalties 22 and entitled to the privileges and immunities pro- 23 vided in the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 24 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Sep 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1303.RS S1303 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1303 RS (3) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in this 1 Act shall be construed to limit the authority of the 2 Commission under any other provision of law. 3 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Sep 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S1303.RS S1303 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB Calendar No. 207 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1303 A BILL To require sellers of event tickets to disclose com- prehensive information to consumers about ticket prices and related fees. SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 Reported with an amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:18 Sep 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S1303.RS S1303 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB