Assemblymember Haney’s AB 1720, the California Fans First Act, restores fairness to the concert and live event ticket market and supports live music venues and touring artists by capping out-of-control ticket resale prices to 10% above face value.
SAN FRANCISCO – Today, Assemblymember Matt Haney (D- San Francisco) was joined by Bay Area artists, musicians, and independent venue owners outside the Castro Theatre to show support for AB 1720, the California Fans First Act. The bill caps the resale price of concert and live event tickets at no more than 10 percent above face value to curb price gouging by ticket brokers and resale platforms and ensure live music remains accessible to fans.
“The community of artists and independent venues here are coming together because ticket scalping and extreme resale markups hurt everyone who makes live entertainment possible, not just the fans being priced out of shows,” said Assemblymember Haney, who chairs the Committee on Downtown Recovery. “When tickets are treated like speculative commodities, artists lose connection with their audiences, independent venues struggle to build loyal fan communities, and money that should be supporting local music ecosystems instead goes to professional brokers and resale platforms exploiting demand.”
While ticketing has moved online, the live event market has increasingly become dominated by bots, brokers, and resale platforms that buy up tickets in bulk and relist them at massive markups. Fans now routinely pay more than double the original ticket price on the secondary market, with some tickets resold for several times face value.
“Concert tickets aren’t stocks to be flipped for profit. They’re a chance for real fans to see the artists they love. Yet for years we’ve let out-of-state scalpers and speculators cut the line, buy up tickets in bulk, and resell them at outrageous markups – shutting out fans while taking the lion’s share of the money. They didn’t write the songs. They didn’t build the venues. They didn't clean the bathrooms. They didn’t put on the show. But they’re the ones cashing in. That’s not fair, and it’s not inevitable,” Haney said. “California – especially the Bay Area – is the heart of the music industry, and we have a duty to stand with fans, artists, and venues, not speculators and scalpers. This is about restoring common sense and making sure live music is about community and culture, not price-gouging and profiteering.”
Artists echoed Haney’s call to restore the artist-fan relationship by lowering costs for live entertainment.
“Artists want fans in the room, not bots and brokers profiting off of music they don't make,” said Ron Gubitz, Executive Director of the Music Artists Coalition. “When tickets to live events become a get-rich-quick scheme, fans get priced out. Concert tickets shouldn't be auction items. This bill makes sure live music stays about connection and community, not some commodity for brokers to flip for profit.”
Independent venues and local nightlife districts are increasingly feeling the impacts of inflated resale prices. When fans spend hundreds or thousands on marked-up tickets, they have less money to support other artists, venues, restaurants, and small businesses that depend on live entertainment.
“Independent venues and nonprofit stages live and die by the trust we build with our audiences and the artists we host. 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 National Independent Venue Association California Chapter and Owner & Managing Partner of The Music Box in San Diego. “These rooms are where tomorrow’s headliners get their start, and they are also vital small businesses and economic contributors in communities across the state. Capping ticket resales is doing right for artists, fans, and the independent venues and nonprofit stages that make California’s live music culture possible.”
AB 1720 allows for reasonable fan-to-fan resale by permitting a modest price increase of no more than 10 percent above face value, while stopping large-scale profiteering by brokers and resale platforms. The bill applies to concerts, comedy shows, and theatrical productions, but not sporting events. AB 1720 will be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee this Thursday.
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