The Council of the District of Columbia has given preliminary approval to a bill that would cap secondary market ticket prices at 10% above face value and outlaw the use of automated bots to acquire tickets.
The Restricting Egregious Scalping Against Live Entertainment (RESALE) Act, introduced by Councilmember Charles Allen, passed its first vote on July 1. A second and final vote is scheduled for July 14.
The legislation would ban speculative ticket sales, in which sellers offer tickets they do not yet hold. It would also prohibit the use of software that bypasses security measures to purchase tickets in bulk. Additionally, any seller who resells 50 or more tickets per year would be required to register annually with the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection.
A coalition of local venues has voiced support for the measure, including:
- 9:30 Club
- The Anthem
- Lincoln Theatre
- GALA Hispanic Theatre
- DC Improv
- Shakespeare Theatre Company
- Studio Theatre
- DC Jewish Community Center
- Washington Improv Theatre
- The Hamilton
- I.M.P.
- The Atlantis
- All Good Presents
“Today, the DC Council stood with DC’s most beloved and iconic music venues, with our storied theaters, and with every music and live theater fan who’s tired of getting ripped off and priced out,” Councilmember Allen said. “Ticket resellers have used technology and unrestrained profits to turn our live entertainment scene into the wild west, and people are sick of it. DC’s going to be a leader in this space, but I expect many other jurisdictions to step in once they see we don’t have to put up with these digital scalpers making everything worse and more expensive while siphoning millions of dollars out of the local economy.”
