StubHub Spends Millions to Kill CA Ticket Resale Cap
Secondary ticketing giant StubHub is pulling out all the stops and its checkbook to kill a proposed California bill that would cap concert ticket resale prices.
StubHub has spent as much as $2.6 million on lobbying efforts in California to block legislation designed to protect music fans from exorbitant secondary market markups. The resale marketplace's California lobbying effort is reportedly greater than spending by Chevron, Verizon, AT&T and OpenAI this quarter.
Here is what you need to know about the legislative battle.
Why is StubHub lobbying against the California ticket bill?
StubHub’s entire business model relies on a free-market secondary ticketing system where high-demand concert tickets can be flipped for massive profits. The California legislation (AB 1720) seeks to strictly limit the maximum price at which a ticket can be resold at 10% above face value and cap fees at 10%.
These caps directly threaten the massive percentage-based commissions StubHub makes on inflated scalper prices. In response, the platform has funneled millions into lobbying efforts to stop the bill from ever becoming law.
Who supports the ticket resale cap?
While StubHub is fighting the legislation, the original bill received support from The Music Artist Coalition, the Future of Music Coalition, and The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) as well as Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster.
“They are staring into a future that does not allow them to make millions across the entire sector by price gouging consumers across the country,” Stephen Parker, the executive director of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) told the Hollywood Reporter this week. “California is one of the biggest concert markets in the country. If California goes in terms of consumer protections around ticketing, we think the rest of the nation will soon follow.”
Some are now concerned by revisions to the bill.
The latest version includes an amendment limiting it to venues of 3,000-capacity or lower, removing the large amphitheater, arena and stadium shows that draw the most profitable activity on sites like StubHub.
What this means for the live music industry
Federal ticket reform has stalled. But Maine, Vermont, and Washington, DC have already passed laws restricting resale. Massachusetts and other states are moving strong legislation forward.
Particularly given the size of the state's concert economy, if passed in its original form this California legislation would serve as a watershed moment for live music in the United States.
Stay tuned to Hypebot as this story develops.
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