The TICKET Act would set the first uniform federal rules for how live event tickets are priced, advertised, and refunded, requiring all-in pricing up front, restricting speculative resales, guaranteeing refunds when events are cancelled, and banning resale sites from posing as official venue pages. It is not yet law. The House passed H.R. 1402 in April 2025 by a vote of 409 to 15, and the bill sits on the Senate Legislative Calendar awaiting a floor vote.1Congress.gov. H.R. 1402 – 119th Congress (2025-2026): TICKET Act If the Senate passes it and the President signs it, most provisions take effect on enactment, though the refund requirements include a 180-day implementation window.2Congress.gov. S.281 – 119th Congress (2025-2026): TICKET Act
Everything below describes what the bill would require if enacted in its current form.
All-In Pricing and Fee Disclosure
The most visible change for buyers is a ban on drip pricing. Every ticket seller would have to display the total price, including all mandatory fees, the moment a ticket first appears to a buyer. A $75 ticket could no longer climb to $110 at checkout. The requirement applies in advertisements, marketing materials, and any price listing, not just the final purchase page.3United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation. The TICKET Act 1 Pager
Before a purchase is completed, the seller must also provide an itemized breakdown separating the base ticket price from each individual fee. You would see exactly how much goes to the platform’s service charge versus a venue facility fee or delivery charge. That disclosure has to appear at the start of the transaction and again before you select a ticket, not tucked into the confirmation screen.3United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation. The TICKET Act 1 Pager
Rules on Speculative Tickets
A speculative ticket is one a reseller lists without actually having it. They collect your money, then try to acquire the seats afterward. When they can’t, you get a cancellation instead of the show.
Under the TICKET Act, any seller listing a speculative ticket must clearly disclose that they do not yet possess it, and that disclosure has to appear before you make the purchase decision.3United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation. The TICKET Act 1 Pager If the seller cannot deliver the promised ticket or a comparable replacement, you are entitled to a full refund of the total purchase price, including all fees.
Refunds for Cancelled or Postponed Events
The refund provisions take effect 180 days after enactment and cover both primary issuers and secondary platforms.2Congress.gov. S.281 – 119th Congress (2025-2026): TICKET Act What you’re entitled to depends on what happened to the event:
- If the event is cancelled outright, the seller must provide a full refund of the total ticket price.
- If the event is postponed by six months or less and your original ticket is no longer valid for the new date, the seller must offer a replacement ticket in the same or a comparable location, subject to availability.
- If the event is postponed by more than six months, you get to choose between a full refund and a replacement ticket in a comparable seat.
There is an exception for cancellations or postponements caused by circumstances beyond the issuer’s reasonable control, such as natural disasters or civil disturbances. The bill does not spell out exactly what refund obligations apply in those situations.2Congress.gov. S.281 – 119th Congress (2025-2026): TICKET Act
Ban on Lookalike Sites and Deceptive Marketing
Resale platforms have long registered domain names built around venue or arena names, catching buyers who think they’re on the official box office site. The TICKET Act targets that practice with three prohibitions.4Congress.gov. H.R. 1402 – 119th Congress (2025-2026): TICKET Act
Secondary sellers and exchanges must provide a clear and conspicuous statement that they are engaged in resale, not primary distribution. They cannot claim affiliation with or endorsement by a venue, team, or artist without a written partnership agreement or express consent, meaning the word “official” can’t appear in ads or social media posts unless it’s true. And resale platforms cannot include a venue’s name, including common misspellings, in their domain name or URL without the venue owner’s permission.2Congress.gov. S.281 – 119th Congress (2025-2026): TICKET Act
Which Events and Sellers Are Covered
The bill reaches live concerts, theatrical performances, sporting events, shows, and similar scheduled activities at venues with a seating or attendance capacity above 200 people, provided the event is open to the general public and promoted or sold in interstate commerce.5Congressional Budget Office. H.R. 3950, TICKET Act Small community venues under that 200-person threshold fall outside its scope.
Three categories of sellers are covered on equal terms: ticket issuers (the venue, promoter, or primary platform such as Ticketmaster), secondary market ticket issuers (professional resellers and brokers), and secondary market ticket exchanges (platforms like StubHub or SeatGeek that host third-party listings).3United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation. The TICKET Act 1 Pager The breadth matters because current ticket regulation is a patchwork of state laws, and many resale platforms have operated with little federal oversight.
Enforcement and Penalties
The Federal Trade Commission would enforce the TICKET Act by treating violations as unfair or deceptive practices under the FTC Act. The FTC’s maximum civil penalty is $53,088 per violation as of the 2025 inflation adjustment, and that figure rises annually.6Federal Trade Commission. FTC Publishes Inflation-Adjusted Civil Penalty Amounts for 2025 For a platform running thousands of transactions a day, per-violation penalties add up quickly.
State attorneys general would also be authorized to bring civil actions in federal court on behalf of harmed residents, seeking damages, consumer restitution, and reimbursement of investigation costs. That dual structure matters because the FTC cannot investigate every complaint, and state consumer protection offices often move faster on local issues.
How to Report a Violation
If the bill becomes law and you run into a platform that hides fees, sells speculative tickets without disclosure, or impersonates a venue’s official site, reports go through the FTC’s existing fraud portal at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.7Federal Trade Commission. ReportFraud.ftc.gov The FTC does not resolve individual complaints, but every report feeds Consumer Sentinel, a database used by civil and criminal law enforcement to detect patterns and build cases. A useful report includes the platform name, the event, screenshots of hidden fees or misleading marketing, and a timeline. Volume of complaints against a specific company is often what triggers an investigation.
You can also file with your state attorney general’s consumer protection office, since the bill authorizes state-level enforcement alongside federal action.