Ticket Resellers Couldn't Sell Concert, Event Seats They Don't Possess Under NJ Bill

TRENTON, NJ — Ticket resellers would have to have possession of event tickets to sell them in New Jersey, under a bill introduced by a trio of Ocean County legislators.

Senate bill 4031 and its Assembly companion 5639 would prohibit what's called tentative ticket sales, also known as speculative ticketing, where companies that resell tickets for concerts and events claim to have tickets for events even before they have been put up for sale by companies like Ticketmaster.

The bills are sponsored by 10th District Sen. Jim Holzapfel and Assemblymen Greg McGuckin and John Catalano.

Under current law, ticket resellers can sell seats for an event even when they do not have possession of the actual tickets.

The issue was highlighted when tickets went on sale for Taylor Swift's concerts, the legislators said.

When millions of fans were not able to buy tickets through Ticketmaster, they searched for tickets on resale websites, and in many cases paid astronomical prices and sometimes people did not even receive a valid ticket, the legislators said.

The issues with the Taylor Swift concert tickets led to congressional demands that Ticketmaster answer questions before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

"Event ticket resellers are selling tickets they don’t even have and they’re hoping that when the actual on-sale date arrives, they can use bots to secure the tickets and fulfill the order," McGuckin said. "There have been plenty of instances when fans end up with worse tickets than they were promised or no tickets at all."

"Speculative ticketing has duped consumers for years and puts a strain on both verified ticket sellers and the venue," Holzapfel said. "This bill is an attempt to improve the buying experience for ordinary customers so they can purchase guaranteed tickets at a fair price."

Specifically, the bill removes provisions of current law that allow for the sale of tickets not in the reseller’s possession under certain circumstances. The bill prohibits resellers from employing tentative ticket policies, whereby the reseller sells tickets that are not in the reseller’s possession at the time of sale.

"It’s important that this bill becomes law to ensure that consumers are purchasing from a reputable source, have access to all the appropriate information when buying, and end up with the tickets they intended to buy," Catalano said.