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MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Wisconsin state legislators are working on new laws to regulate ticket resales, including the proposed “Swiftie” Act, as a federal antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster continues to shake up the entertainment industry.
The proposed legislation would cap resale prices while limiting how many tickets someone can buy. A hearing on the bill took place earlier this week.
The Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster aims to bring down ticket prices, said Dustin Brighton with the Coalition for Ticket Fairness.
“If tickets are being restricted on the primary market, well, there’s less supply. Well, what’s going to happen with prices? Again, prices go way up,” Brighton said.
John Lamoreaux, who leads an online ticket resale company and has worked in the industry for three decades, said high-profile concerts drive attention to ticket sales issues.
“How we got here is I think shows like Taylor Swift,” said Lamoreaux. “I think the last one was, you know, Hannah Montana. I think it’s teenage girls that have all the power in the world.”
He said entertainment sales catch attention when tickets for popular artists are bought up in minutes, citing the recent Taylor Swift Eras Tour as a major example of price gouging.
“I mean, again, we certainly understand when a very popular act comes out, your favorite artist, you know, the Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteens of the world, when they come out, a lot of people, they have great fan bases that want to see these acts,” Brighton said.
Lamoreaux said the resale market sometimes offers tickets below face value.
“You’re going to have your Brewers Cubs and your Packers Bears tickets that are going to be pricey. But at the same time people don’t realize we sell often times below the resale value,” he said.
He argued that price caps would hurt marketplace competition and consumer choice.
“Making sure there aren’t any price caps keeps us in business and does allow Ticketmaster to have so much power,” Lamoreaux said.
“Competition in between websites and those who sell tickets is never a bad thing for consumers,” Brighton added.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster did not respond to multiple requests for comment over two days.