A new bill introduced in the California Legislature would limit how much concert tickets can be resold for, potentially making live music more accessible to fans across the state.
Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) introduced AB 1720, known as the “California Fans First Act,” on Thursday. The legislation would cap ticket resale prices at no more than 10% above face value for concerts, comedy shows, and theatrical productions, though sporting events would be exempt.
“For decades, concert tickets were sold at face value to real fans who wanted to see the artists they loved,” Haney said when announcing the bill. “But today, professional scalpers and bots buy up tickets in seconds and resell them at massive markups.”
The issue has grown increasingly frustrating for music fans like Marlee Wallace, who described competing with an estimated 130,000 people and computer bots for tickets to a Megan Moroney concert at a 17,000-seat venue.
“I was just in shock. I said, there can not be 130,000 people in this queue,” Wallace told CBS 8. After waiting, she found remaining tickets priced significantly above face value, with those same tickets later appearing on resale platforms at up to eight times their original cost.
Industry advocates argue the current system harms not just fans but also performers and venues. “When tickets are resold at outrageous prices, it shuts fans out, undermines artists’ intentions, and harms the community spaces that give musicians a place to grow,” said Joe Rinaldi, president of the California chapter of the National Independent Venue Association.
The Music Artists Coalition has also voiced support for the legislation. “Artists want fans in the room, not bots and brokers profiting off of music they don’t make,” said Ron Gubitz, the organization’s Executive Director. “Concert tickets shouldn’t be auction items.”
If passed, California would join Maine and Washington, D.C., which already have laws capping resale markups at 10%. The United Kingdom has implemented even stricter legislation, limiting resale prices to the original ticket cost plus any ticket fees.
The bill is expected to face opposition from ticket resale platforms and brokers, but Haney argues that California—home to much of the live music industry—has a responsibility to act against what he calls “parasitic intermediaries” who contribute nothing to events while capturing most profits.
“This has become more about speculation and squeezing every dollar out of the pockets of actual fans, and not giving that money to artists, and it is killing the music industry, it’s killing live events,” Haney said.
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