Ticketing fees and resale upcharges cost fans $11.3 billion, Vanderbilt finds
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Ticket market middlemen added a cumulative $11.3 billion in unnecessary costs for fans going to live events last year, according to new research from the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator
Why it matters: Federal and state lawmakers have struggled to regulate the ticketing market — and save fans money. The new research includes model legislation that could provide a roadmap.
What they're saying: "The core problem with the modern ticket broker industry is that it inflates the price of live events without providing any value to either customers or event producers," Vanderbilt researcher Brian Shearer says in his study.
Follow the money: According to the report, fans are paying $6.8 billion in excess fees charged by online platforms and $4.5 billion in inflated prices by scalpers.
The intrigue: Shearer identified ways policymakers could prohibit reselling tickets above the face value and cap service fees at 10% of the total ticket cost.
Catch up quick: Congress has pursued laws to increase regulations on the ticketing market, such as the Main Event Ticketing Act.
- In 2023, Tennessee legislators created a new law requiring ticket sellers to itemize their fees on the front end so fans could see an all-in price before checking out.
- Tennessee also has a law banning the use of special software called bots to purchase tickets in bulk online.
- Tennessee is part of the coalition of states engaged in federal anti-trust litigation against Live Nation.
Zoom out: Rhode Island passed laws limiting ticket resale prices. The report notes that secondhand sites are still operating there despite the restrictions.
The other side: Supporters of the secondhand market argue that using official ticketing services like StubHub helps fight off counterfeit ticket sales.
- They say the secondhand market is simply the free market at work.
The bottom line: The Vanderbilt research disagrees.
- "The resale market cannot be justified by notions of economic efficiency. Resellers do not necessarily reallocate scarce tickets to people who value them the most and instead often reallocate tickets to wealthier fans," the study concludes.
Go deeper: Read the full study