If you've ever tried to buy tickets to see an artist you love, you know how frustrating it is. Tickets go on sale, disappear almost immediately, and then show up on resale sites minutes later for two, three, or even four times the original price.

Ticket resale used to mean someone selling an extra ticket because they couldn't make the show. That's not what the ticket resale market looks like anymore.

Today, professional ticket brokers buy up tickets the second they go on sale. Not because they want to go, but because they know you do. Then they turn around and charge fans hundreds of dollars more.

That's why I introduced AB 1720, the California Fans First Act.

If you buy a $50 ticket to see a band at a small independent venue, a professional ticket broker shouldn't be able to turn around and sell it for $150 or $200.

AB 1720 would cap resale prices at 10% above the original ticket price, including fees. If your plans change, you can still sell your ticket and get your money back. What you can't do is buy up hundreds of tickets just to gouge the fans who actually want to see the show.

This matters especially here in San Francisco. Our independent venues give artists a place to perform, bring people into our neighborhoods, support local businesses, and keep our music and arts scene alive.

When a $100 ticket gets resold for $500, that extra $400 doesn't go to the artist or the venue. It goes to the professional ticket broker.

AB 1720 comes before the Senate Appropriations Committee this week, and I'm urging my colleagues to move it forward.

California should make it easier for people to experience live music and support our independent venues, not easier for professional ticket brokers to profit off them.

That's what the California Fans First Act is about: putting fans first again.

With gratitude,

Sincerely,

Matt Haney
Assemblymember, 17th District