Consumer groups say new law will hurt concert ticket buyers and sellers

Consumer groups are pleading with Gov. Maura Healey to stop sections of the recently passed economic development bill, which they say will only codify Live Nation Entertainment’s monopoly.

If passed, consumer groups say sections of the law would make it illegal for buyers to transfer a ticket through any site other than where they purchased it, preventing customers from accessing a competitive secondary market.

“Once someone purchases a ticket, it should be theirs to do what they please,” the consumer group’s letter signed by MASSPIRG, the National Consumers League, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, and Sorts Fans Coalition, said.

The Economic Development Bill (H. 5100) awaits Healey’s signature before codifying it into law.

The consumer group’s letter says ticket transferability is more than “just convenience.” It gives customers control over their tickets after they purchase them and “empowers fans” to comparison shop across different marketplaces where ticket holders can resell at prices above or below the original cost.

“When you buy concert, sports or other event tickets, you should be able to do whatever you want with them, including re-selling them or giving them to friends or family,” said Deirdre Cummings, Legislative and Consumer Program Director for MASSPIRG, in a statement.

“Ticket sellers should have no right to prevent us from transferring them on our terms,” Cummings continued.

Protect Ticket Rights, a fan advocacy organization, analyzed nearly 200,000 tickets sold in the state to live events on the secondary market last year. The organization found that fans saved $13.87 million when buying on resale marketplaces.

Similarly, the Sports Fans Coalition, a consumer advocacy organization for sports policy, found that fans across the country saved $351 million by buying tickets to sporting events on secondary markets between 2017 and 2024. In Massachusetts alone, fans saved $21 million during this period.

“Giving Live Nation-Ticketmaster permission to further monopolize live events in Massachusetts is not in the interest of the fans who power the industry,” said John Breyault, vice president of public policy telecommunications and fraud of the National Consumers League.

“We urge Gov. Healey to use the economic development bill to promote competition for live events in the Bay State, not restrict it,” Breyalt continued.

The consumer groups also believe this law would conflict with Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s position on an ongoing antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment and the Ticketmaster subsidiary.

Massachusetts joined the U.S. Department of Justice and 29 other state attorneys in a federal antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment earlier this year. The lawsuit targets the company’s anticompetitive strategies, which make it harder for fans to use rival secondary ticketing platforms to resell tickets.

“Massachusetts law should not codify the anticompetitive business model of a monopoly that the Commonwealth’s Attorney General is currently investigating,” said Brian Hess, the executive director of Sports Fans Coalition, in a statement. “Transferability equals savings for Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins fans.”

“With a stroke of a pen, Governor Healey can supercharge these savings by amending H. 5100 to allow fans to freely transfer their tickets,” he continued.