Scroll Top

Bill Allowing Consumers to Transfer or Resell Event Tickets Without Penalty Clears Commerce Committee

Trenton – In an effort to allow consumers buying event tickets greater flexibility in transferring or reselling a purchased ticket, the Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation sponsored by Senator Loretta Weinberg that would require a ticket issuer to grant the option of transferability to the buyer. That is, any ticket issuer that employs a non-transferable ticketing system must, under the legislation, also offer a purchaser an option to purchase the same ticket in a transferable form that allows the ticket to be given away or resold without penalty or discrimination.

 

Supporters of the bill, S-376, argue the transferability provision allows ticket buyers to sell or give away their own property. The bill would also benefit secondary platforms like StubHub that charge a fee to resellers selling a ticket on their site by ensuring consumers can resell their tickets on any marketplace or platform.

 

“Anyone who has bought tickets for a baseball game, a concert or a Broadway show knows that life events can sometimes pre-empt best-laid plans. When that happens, consumers need to have a practical recourse to resell or give away their tickets without having to go back to the original online vendor and log into their platform. They bought the original tickets, and they should be able to do with them as they wish without penalty,” said Senator Weinberg (D-Bergen).

 

The bill would not limit a ticket issuer’s ability to:

 

  • maintain and enforce policies with respect to conduct, behavior, or age at the venue or entertainment event;

 

  • establish limits on the quantity of tickets that may be purchased; and

 

  • revoke or restrict season tickets for reasons related to violations of venue policy, including attempts by two or more individuals to gain admission to the same entertainment event using tickets purchased in a resale transaction, with each individual presenting copies of the same ticket.

 

 

The bill cleared the Senate Commerce Committee by a vote of 4-1.