California's Senate Appropriations Committee failed to advance Assembly Member Matt Haney's AB 1720 on Thursday. The proposed legislation sought to limit ticket resale prices to face value plus a 10% margin for live entertainment events across the state.
The $3.4 million campaign to block AB 1720
The defeat of the bill follows an intense and expensive lobbying effort by secondary ticketing giants. As reported by the source, StubHub alone spent $3.4 million to oppose the legislation. This massive expenditure highlights the deep tension between the secondary market and consumer advocates who argue that the current system relies on artificial scarcity to drive up prices.
While the bill was supported by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA),its local California chapter, and the Music Artists Coalition, it struggled to overcome industry opposition. Assembly Member Matt Haney argued that the bill would have removed incentives for predatory resale while still allowing fans to recover their costs. He noted that the profits from current resale models tend to benefit middlemen rather than the artists and venues that create the live events.
How the 3,000-capacity limit gutted the bill's impact
A significant factor in the bill's struggle was the dilution of its original scope through legislative amendments. The source notes that since its introduction in February, the language of AB 1720 was stripped back to only include a resale ticketing cap for independent venues with a capacity of 3,000 or fewer .
This capacity restriction fundamentally changed the bill's ability to protect the general public. by excluding larger arena and stadium shows, the amended version of the bill no longer addressed the high-profile events where fans are most frequently priced out. haney pointed out that professional brokers and automated bots often buy up tickets for these major shows, relisting them at much higher prices before real fans can even reach the front of the line.
Legislative momentum in Maine, Vermont, and Massachusetts
California is not the only state attempting to curb predatory ticketing practices. According to the report, Vermont and Maine have already successfully passed similar legislation to protect consumers from excessive resale markups.
The movement is also gaining traction in Massachusetts,where Governor Maura Healey has introduced a proposed bill with similar goals. That proposal would cap resale prices at 110% of the original ticket's face value and limit all service fees and charges to no more than 10% of the total price. This mirrors the core intent of California's AB 1720, which soguht to prevent the massive price hikes seen in the secondary market.
The future of Matt Haney's legislative push
The failure of the bill in the Senate Appropriations Committee leaves several questions regarding the next steps for California's ticketing reform. It remains unclear if Assembly Member Matt Haney will attempt to reintroduce a version of the bill that restores protections for large-scale venues, or if the coalition will focus its efforts exclusively on the independent venue sector.
Additionally, the source does not clarify how the industry will respond if a more limited version of the bill eventually reaches the governor's desk. There is also no confirmation of whether the opposition from major platforms like StubHub will persist if the legislation is further narrowed to avoid impacting the most lucrative arena-level events.
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