SPRINGFIELD – To protect consumers and ensure a fairer, more transparent ticket resale market, State Senator Steve Stadelman advanced legislation to ban speculative ticket sales in Illinois.
“Selling tickets you don’t own is a gamble with someone else’s money,” said Stadelman (D-Rockford). “Fans deserve confidence that when they buy a ticket, the seller actually has it and can deliver it.”
House Bill 4984 prohibits ticket resellers from selling, listing or advertising tickets unless they have actual or constructive possession of the tickets at the time they are offered for sale.
The measure targets speculative ticketing, a practice in which brokers list tickets they do not yet own, often before tickets have even gone on sale to the public. Because brokers are betting they will be able to obtain tickets later, speculative listings can create the false impression that tickets are scarce, driving up prices for consumers. In some cases, buyers may pay inflated prices for tickets that the seller ultimately cannot provide, leaving fans without valid tickets to the event they planned to attend.
“Consumers should not have to wonder whether the ticket they purchases actually exists,” said Stadelman. “This legislation protects fans from misleading sales tactics, helps prevent artificially inflated prices and ensures greater accountability in the ticket resale marketplace.”
House Bill 4984 passed the Senate Saturday.
