ALBANY, NY (CelebrityAccess) — Legislators in New York State are weighing new measures aimed at curbing some of the most abusive practices in the secondary ticketing market. Assembly Bill A8659 and Senate Bill S8221 propose a series of seemingly modest restrictions on ticket resellers, adding new consumer protections and tightening regulations on resale activity.
If enacted in their current form, the bills would establish refund rights for fans who purchase tickets on the secondary market and require that season passes and subscription tickets be subject to the same licensing and pricing standards as individual ticket sales.
The legislation would also mandate that resellers who do not physically possess tickets must have a written contract guaranteeing ticket procurement at a specified price. Resale listings would be permitted only after the venue or its authorized agent officially places tickets on sale to the public.
Additional provisions include a requirement for professional resellers to display their New York State reseller license number on resale platforms and to pay an annual license renewal fee. The legislation also sets new standards for pricing and listing transparency across secondary marketplaces and extends existing ticketing regulations from 1991 and 2010—originally enacted for sports and entertainment events—into the broader live events sector.
Notably, the proposed legislation does not impose a price cap on secondary market sales, continuing to allow resellers to engage in price arbitrage at the expense of consumers. However, it lays the foundation for New York to establish such caps in the future.
The legislation was introduced in the Assembly by Democratic Representatives Robert C. Carroll, Anna Kelles, Linda Rosenthal, and Emily Gallagher. In the State Senate, it was introduced by Democratic Senator James Skoufis, who represents New York’s 42nd District.
The National Independent Talent Organization (NITO) has voiced strong support for the proposal. In a memorandum of support released on Friday, a spokesperson for NITO said:
On behalf of the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO), we urge the passing of Assembly Bill A8659 and Senate Bill 8211 to confront the abuses embedded in New York’s live event ticketing system and protect consumers. Passing this legislation would establish New York as a national leader in fighting back against exploitative ticketing practices and protecting the rights of artists and their fans.
NITO represents hundreds of independent talent agencies and management firms, supporting over 5,000 artists who perform at venues across New York and the country. We advocate for a more equitable live event economy — one where artists, fans, venues, and promoters all benefit from a transparent and accessible marketplace. This legislation embodies that goal, with vital provisions to prohibit speculative ticket listings, enforce clear disclosures, allow for price-limited fan-to-fan resale marketplaces, and equip the Attorney General with real enforcement power.
One of the most important components of this bill is the establishment of tight restrictions on speculative ticketing, a practice that has become widespread and deeply damaging to consumer confidence. These speculative listings mislead fans into buying tickets that do not actually exist at the time of purchase, driving artificial scarcity and fueling inflated resale prices. Eliminating this practice is essential for restoring integrity to the ticket-buying experience.
Equally critical is the bill’s inclusion of authority to establish resale price and fee caps, which would bring much-needed guardrails to a resale market currently dominated by bots and platforms that add extreme fees — often over 40% of the ticket price — to already-inflated listings. These fees are pure profit for third-party resellers and platforms, offering no added value to the fan and no compensation to the artists or venues responsible for the show.
Resale price and fee caps are about fairness. They help dismantle a system that punishes fans for their enthusiasm and prices communities out of cultural experiences. For independent artists in particular, whose careers are built one show and one fan at a time, these protections help ensure live events remain inclusive and accessible.
We also want to underscore that this legislation is not a critique of primary ticketing providers or our venue partners, who work hard to create fan-first experiences. Rather, this bill addresses the unchecked behaviors and market failures that plague the secondary resale space, where regulation has not kept pace with exploitation.
For these reasons, we urge the Senate and Assembly to cosponsor and pass A8659 and S8211 with a strong commitment to banning speculative listings and enforcing resale price and fee caps. New York can and should lead the nation in building a fairer, more transparent live event ecosystem.
Additionally, the Music Artists Coalition, whose board includes music luminaries such as Irving Azoff, Coran Capshaw, Ali Harnell, John Silva, and Don Henley among others, also weighed in with support for the proposed legislation.
On behalf of the Music Artists Coalition (MAC) and the music creators we represent, we write to express our strong support for bills A.8659 / S. 8221. This comprehensive ticketing reform legislation addresses critical problems that harm artists and the fans who support our music.
What we want is simple: do not interfere with our artists’ relationship with our fans. As musicians, MAC’s members create their art with the hope that it will connect with people. They want their fans to be able to attend shows at a reasonable price that enables them to craft a unique musical experience. They don’t want their fans competing against brokers, or bots, who intercept these tickets and drive up the price, diverting money from fans’ wallets to people who have no involvement whatsoever in the creation of the shows and music.
The artists we represent want the ability to stop skyrocketing ticket prices and this legislation makes that possible. If artists don’t want someone to be able to markup their tickets, they should be able to say so. If artists want working families in New York to be able to afford to see their shows, they should be able to say so. This bill makes that possible in New York.
We also want to end the practice of someone selling a ticket that they don’t own. This practice, called speculative ticketing, is unheard of in other industries. How can someone sell something that they do not own? Even before our artists’ tickets are put on sale for the general public, shady resellers are already listing them at inflated prices. Then, often using bots, they go and buy tickets at the face value price and resell them at the inflated price.
We’ve heard many stories of fans flying to a show, staying in a hotel, only to get to the ticket scanner and find out that the speculative ticket is not a real ticket. The resellers might offer to refund the money for the ticket, but it doesn’t solve the fan getting shut out from the show. This bill ends speculative ticketing by requiring resellers to actually own tickets or have written contracts before they can sell them. This simple requirement protects fans from fraud and ensures artists can maintain trust with their audiences.
