ASSEMBLYMEMBER MATT HANEY gathered with local artists and business owners on Monday to show support for legislation that would cap the reselling of tickets for concerts and live events at 10% above the original sale price, in an effort to target organized scalpers and bring down costs for fans.

Elected officials and entertainment industry representatives gathered under the Castro Theater’s marquee to discuss what would be major changes to how people purchase tickets for live events under Assembly Bill 1720, or what lawmakers are calling the California Fans First Act. 

Under the bill, introduced in March, fans would have greater access to more tickets at a cheaper price, Haney said. Tickets being resold would be capped at 10% of their original price. In addition, resellers would be required to list all fees associated with the transaction and be subject to oversight by the state’s attorney general. 

Haney said ticket-selling platforms and professional scalpers — people who buy tickets in bulk and resell them — have been taking advantage of consumers. 

“The California Fans First Act will help ensure that venues like (The Castro Theater) can offer affordable tickets directly to fans so that they can experience these incredible performances across San Francisco,” said Haney. “The live event market is no longer functioning like a normal consumer market. It is increasingly operating like a speculative trade market.”

Haney said reselling platforms like Seat Geek, Vivid Seats, and StubHub have allowed scalpers to resell tickets at prices substantially higher than their face value, with the profits going to the seller and not the venue or artists. He said scalpers will buy tickets in bulk from platforms like Ticketmaster and then resell them on the same site or others. 

“The live event market is no longer functioning like a normal consumer market. It is increasingly operating like a speculative trade market.”

Assemblymember Matt Haney

A spokesperson for Live Nation said they applauded Haney’s efforts to “protect concert fans and artists.” The company said the proposed bill will target a “core problem in live music: predatory resale sites that undermine artists and siphon millions from fans while contributing nothing back to the event experience.”

Ticketmaster and Live Nation have also come under fire for their ticket selling practices. They are a major seller direct to consumers and also host a resale platform.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment LLC control about 80% of major venues’ primary ticketing. From 2019 to 2024, consumers spent more than $82.6 billion purchasing tickets from Ticketmaster, according to the agency. 

In September, the FTC sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster for what the agency called “deceptive pricing tactics” and substantially marking up ticket prices. The complaint alleges the companies deceptively advertised lower ticket prices, falsely claimed to impose strict limits on the number of tickets someone could purchase and sold millions of tickets at “much higher cost to consumers” on their resale platforms. 

Haney said the problem with scalpers goes beyond just Ticketmaster, whom he said receives redirected blame from third-party companies wanting to remove the spotlight from them. He said there has been similar legislation in other states and countries that targeted predatory scalpers and sees promise for changes in California. 

Alex Torres with the National Independent Venue Association said nearly 70% of independent venues and promoters in California were not profitable in 2025. He said resale platforms do not assume the financial risk of hosting and promoting shows, rather the companies claim most of the profits. 

“Independent venues are cultural institutions, but there are also economic engines for communities across California,” said Torres. “Right now, they’re being squeezed on two different fronts.”

‘We as artists are hurting’

Robert Chestnut is the president of the SAG-AFTRA San Francisco-NorCal chapter. He said local artists were hurting financially by the scalpers and by the lack of exposure that comes with event spaces being left empty because people can’t afford to attend. 

“We as artists are hurting,” said Chestnut. “When we have these ticket resellers, they buy up just major quantities of inventory, and they sell those at a huge, huge profit and a huge markup. It just takes the access away from those working artists, from families, from the senior citizens.” 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta celebrated a legal victory against Live Nation and Ticket in April with other attorneys general. The lawsuit alleged the companies had anticompetitive practices that worsened the affordability crisis for Americans. 

Lawmakers like Haney are hopeful the popular support against the ticketing agencies and scalpers will help pass AB 1720.