Sports Fans Coalition, a member of the Ticket Buyer Bill of Rights Coalition, today released polling conducted by Rick Ridder of RBI Strategies & Research finding that voters overwhelmingly oppose many provisions included in Senate Bill 23-060 and support a key transparency provision that was removed from the final bill at the request of large dominant ticket sellers Ticketmaster and AXS. The poll found that 81% of Colorado voters oppose provisions in the bill which could allow companies like Ticketmaster and AXS to prevent fans from freely giving away or selling their purchased tickets. Additionally, nearly 9 in 10 voters (88%) of those polled support a requirement of these companies to disclose their use of the deceptive practice of holding back tickets from the initial sale to manufacture scarcity to mislead consumers into buying tickets at arbitrarily higher prices. Continue reading

A 1977 analysis revealed that, although justified as a catalyst for economic growth, the construction of new stadiums fails to generate local benefits. 25 years later, a similar study reaffirmed this contradiction between rationale and impact. Local and state governments, however, continue to ignore such evidence and instead promote the construction of new stadiums.  Continue reading

Some supporters of the Ticket Buyer Bill of Rights have joined SFC in calling for Colorado Governor Jared Polis to veto Senate Bill SB 23-060, "Consumer Protection in Event Ticketing Sales.” Despite its name, Sports Fans Coalition, the National Consumers League, the Consumer Federation of America, Public Knowledge, Fan Freedom, and Protect Ticket Rights have demonstrated that the bill will actually harm consumers and proposed two amendments that would make the bill consumer-friendly. Once the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee added ticket holdback disclosures and mandatory bots reporting to the bill through amendment L033, these same groups then endorsed the bill.  Continue reading

Senator Robert Rodriguez, the senate sponsor for SB23-060 “Consumer Protection In Event Ticketing Sales”, removed the Trojan Horse provision of the legislation that gave Live Nation/Ticketmaster and other primary market participants the ability to revoke fans' resold tickets at the gate; allowing the legislation to pass the Senate this week.  Continue reading

This week, Sports Fans Coalition fought the Devil in Georgia and testified about how ticket transferability is important for fans - especially season ticket holders. Georgia's lawmakers want to hear from you, now! Continue reading

Sports Fans Coalition over the years has called for reforming the governance system of the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) to allow for open, fair competition and maximum participation by Americans from all communities.  That is why we are concerned about the claims made by La Asociación Nacional Fútbol en Estados Unidos (National Association of Soccer in the United States) about unfair and discriminatory practices by USSF.  These complaints include allegedly willful attempts to deny a predominantly Latino organization from full and equal participation in youth, amateur soccer in the U.S. and, if true, could constitute serious violations of antitrust and anti-discrimination policies and laws of the United States.  We urge USSF to agree to a third party audit and report of its practices with respect to the claims made by the National Association of Soccer.

This week, Sports Fans Coalition traveled to Denver, CO to oppose SB 060. Continue reading

This week Sports Fans Coalition filed comments at the FTC for their Unfair or Deceptive Fees Trade Regulation Rulemaking process. The FTC requested information on how consumers are charged excessive fees by companies, especially in the live event ticketing industry. It’s no secret Ticketmaster is among the worst culprits when it comes to charging fans junk fees, and largely because of its monopoly. “We discuss conduct employed by Ticketmaster/Live Nation that falls explicitly within the several categories identified by the agency in the ANPR,” reads the comments before listing a litany of consumer harms imposed by Ticketmaster.” Continue reading

The last week and a half has been a flurry of activity around the Equal Pay for Team USA Act (S. 2333). After the bill unanimously passed the Senate, Sports Fans Coalition and other equal pay advocates turned their attention to the House of Representatives, calling to pass the bill and send it to the President. Tonight, the House of Representatives did just that 350-59. "Sports Fans Coalition thanks Senators Cantwell, Capito, and their staffs for their tireless devotion to equal pay," said Brian Hess, Executive Director, "Our future Olympic champions will look back on this day as one of the most important in women's sports history." Continue reading

The Senate passed the Equal Pay for Team USA Act by unanimous consent. Unanimous consent is an agreement in the Senate that sets aside a rule of procedure to expedite proceedings. The bill now moves to the House of Representatives.  Continue reading