Don’t Fall for the Ticket Price Cap Trap
If I buy a jersey from the merch store at an arena for $100 and the team wins the championship and the store sells out of jerseys, making it possible for me to resell the jersey to another fan for $200, lawmakers aren’t likely to pass a law preventing me from doing so. But when it comes to the tickets to the game, it’s another matter.
There’s been a nefarious movement by the Ticketmaster monopoly and its like-minded industry associates at the National Independent Venue Association, National Independent Talent Organization, and some sports teams to trap fans in a scheme and lead to increased ticket sales fraud by enacting price caps on ticket resale. This will drive ticket sellers off of transparent marketplace platforms where buyers and sellers are protected, and drive ticket resale back to street corners and online classified ads, where fans get ripped off. The U.S. should learn from the mistakes of other countries, like Ireland and Australia and not fall into the ticket price cap trap.
According to research by Bradshaw Advisory, price caps lead to fraud and lost tax revenue. Concerts and sporting events are the top instances of fraud occurring in Ireland, and Australia. Price caps, intended to protect consumers, have actually harmed every stakeholder — except the bad actors they are meant to stop. Commissioned in response to the United Kingdom considering legislation to cap ticket prices, Bradshaw estimates the total costs of ticketing fraud in the UK currently is £1.37 billion ($1.84 billion) annually. However, if the caps were to be implemented to resemble that of Ireland or Australia rates, then the total cost would spike to £4.9 billion ($6.58 billion). This significant increase shows one thing clearly: fraud is not being stopped – it is being fueled. Out of the types of tickets sold, digital tickets took up to 70% of the share of fraud instances compared to the 30% for paper tickets. Given America’s overreliance on Ticketmaster’s platform, we suspect these rates could be worse for our fans.
If similar legislation were passed here, the only people who would profit are fraudsters and black-market sellers — the exact opposite of the intended purpose. Why do we know that? Just look at Ireland and Australia, where similar ticket price cap policies backfired. American fans, this is not what we should emulate. Ticketmaster, venues, teams, and artist advocates have introduced price cap legislation in nearly a fifth of the country this year. Lawmakers should strike down any legislation that caps America fans' tickets. Fortunately, thanks to sports fans and other consumer advocates, price cap legislation has been rejected by legislators in other states where introduced. Nowhere has a price cap passed this year. Nationwide, the trend has been the opposite of this bill. In fact, at the end of last year, Massachusetts repealed their price cap law.
Ticketmaster & Friends claim price ceilings prevent secondary market price “skyrocketing,” but real-world data tells a different story. A CATO Institute analysis of NHL resale prices found no price hikes in states that repealed caps—only a drop in ticket availability, discouraging resale and limiting consumer choice. In fact, the secondary market often benefits fans: the American Consumer Institute found that 55% of resale tickets were priced below face value, saving fans over $440 million, with average prices falling by about one-third from $170 to $114 as event dates approached. Similarly, we estimate that fans have saved over $475 million through buying tickets on resale markets since 2017. Price caps could cripple the secondary market, leading to where fraudsters will thrive, not disappear.
Fans are the center of American professional sports. Without fans, there is nothing driving the success of the leagues – no packed stadiums, no TV ratings, no booming merchandise sales. Ticket resale is a vital part of that fandom. Now, it is up to lawmakers to stand up for America’s fans and protect the heart of our sports culture and not fall for the price cap trap.
