A white paper released by the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator (VPA) reveals that ticket resellers and marketplaces like StubHub drain $11 billion every year from live event audiences.
The study, How to Save Audiences $11 Billion on Live Events, exposes how ticket brokers add $4.5 billion in resale upcharges while platform service fees add another $6.8 billion in costs. While resale advocacy groups claim secondary markets save fans money when tickets sell under face value, VPA’s data shows fans actually lose $12 to markup gouging for every $1 saved.
Industry Leaders Back Reform
Both the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO) voiced support for VPA’s findings. NITO cited its own survey of 65 shows, which found an average resale markup of 91% and platform service fees occasionally exceeding 100% of face value. Industry leaders emphasize that these billions in inflated costs never reach the artists, crews, or venues actually putting on the shows.
Both trade groups endorse VPA’s two central policy solutions:
- A bright-line ban on reselling tickets above original face value.
- A 10% cap on all primary and secondary ticketing platform service fees.
"Vanderbilt has given Congress, governors, state legislators, and attorneys general the most convincing evidence we've seen that resale price gouging has to be reined in," Stephen Parker, Executive Director of the NIVA said in a statement. "This report uncovers that fans and consumers lose $12 on the resale market for every $1 that scalper advocacy groups claim they save. That is shocking, and it calls for action."
“Stubhub and the resale giants have spent millions on lobbying to convince law makers they are saving consumers money” echoed NITO Executive Director Nathaniel Marro. “However, the facts are clear as day. Resale is costing fans billions of dollars each year, money that is being drained from our industry and never reaches the artists, crews or venues that actually put on these shows.”
Fitting Into the Legislative Landscape
These proposals build on momentum already taking root across state and federal governments. Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, and Washington, D.C., have already passed laws capping resale markups or platform fees, with similar legislation pending in Massachusetts. Internationally, the province of Ontario and several European nations have enacted face-value resale rules.
At the federal level, the report intersects with an increasingly aggressive regulatory push. Legislative efforts such as the BOTS Act, the MAIN Event Ticketing Act, and the Fans First Act aim to curb ticket-buying bots and mandate price transparency.
Concurrently, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice are pursuing major enforcement actions against dominant ticketing companies and predatory groups.
The Vanderbilt study also highlights that state attorneys general and the FTC already possess the regulatory authority under Section 5 "unfair practices" rules to enact fee caps and resale limits immediately without waiting for new congressional statutes.
Read the full Vanderbilt study "How to Save Audiences $11 Billion on Live Events" here.
Hypebot’s Bottom Line
The live music ecosystem is reaching a breaking point where unearned middleman profits directly undercut touring viability and fan access.
With empirical data disproving the "free market" defense of scalping, policymakers now have a clear roadmap: cap platform fees at 10% and outlaw above-face-value resale to keep live entertainment sustainable for everyone involved.
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