Senate committee advances two ticketing bills after hours of testimony from venues, artists and consumer groups

The Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee advanced two separate measures aimed at curbing deceptive or exploitative secondary‑market ticketing practices.

Assemblymember Bridal presented AB 13 49, which would ban “speculative ticketing” by requiring sellers to own or have a contractual right to sell tickets before listing them on resale platforms. Venue owners, including Jim Cornett of Harlow’s and representatives of the National Independent Venue Association, said speculative listings deceive fans and harm independent venues. “Speculative tickets don’t exist yet…consumers are especially at risk,” Cornett said. Opponents — including consumer groups and some antitrust advocates — warned about unintended consequences for transferability and ongoing federal antitrust litigation in the ticketing market.

Separately, Assemblymember Haney presented AB 17 20, the Fans First Act, which would cap resale prices at no more than 10% above face value for independent venues under 3,000 capacity. The bill’s supporters — venues, artists and the Music Artists Coalition — argued that industrial scalpers and automated bots price out neighborhood fans and hollow out local venues’ economic viability. “Professional scalpers purchase large volumes of tickets the moment they go on sale and immediately relist them at many times the face price,” the Music Artists Coalition’s Ron Gubitz said.

Opposition testimony from the Consumer Federation and several ticketing platforms argued the price‑cap approach risks pushing buyers to unregulated channels, will be difficult to enforce given dynamic pricing and season tickets, and could strengthen dominant primary sellers by removing competition on the secondary market. Consumer Federation Executive Director Robert Harrell said the bills could unintentionally favor the largest incumbents.

Committee action and votes: The committee accepted amendments to both bills that narrow scope and clarify implementation and moved AB 13 49 to the Senate committee handling digital technologies and consumer protection (recorded vote in committee record). AB 17 20 was also advanced out of committee on a recorded vote (the session recorded a roll call of 6–2 in favor during the hearing).

What happens next: Both measures were referred to committees that will examine technical implementation, consumer protections and interactions with ongoing federal antitrust proceedings. Advocates on both sides signaled they will continue negotiating technical fixes ahead of floor consideration.