California Bans Speculative ‘Ghost Tickets’ in Bid to Protect Live Event Goers
California lawmakers are officially cracking down on deceptive e-commerce and expensive concert experiences by targeting “ghost tickets”—speculative admissions sold by brokers who do not yet own the inventory. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1349, a bipartisan measure designed to clean up a murky online marketplace complicated by artificial intelligence. The law outlaws the advertisement and sale of tickets unowned by the vendor and bans the use of software to manipulate venue purchasing restrictions.
Buying a ticket shouldn’t come with hidden risks or unfair practices, Newsom wrote on social media following his signature. The legislation arrives after regulators struggled to keep pace with digital scalpers who list high-demand admissions before they even go on sale to the general public. Under the new statute, ticket resellers must implement reasonable measures to prevent speculative listings, with violators facing potential misdemeanor charges and penalties.
How ‘Ghost Tickets’ Exploit Fans and Strain Independent Venues
The push for legislative reform gained momentum from real-world examples of consumers getting burned by phantom inventory. Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, a Culver City Democrat and the author of AB 1349, experienced the trap firsthand when searching online for tickets to a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. He and a friend discovered expensive listings posted before actual tickets went on sale.
Many fans buy these tickets not knowing that they are listed at a price greater than they would actually be when they eventually go on sale, Bryan explained during a June legislative hearing. In the worst instances, fans never actually acquire the ticket that they paid for, leaving our small venues in California ultimately on the hook.
A Fractured Coalition: Live Nation, StubHub, and Industry Pushback
Initially, the bill moved forward with backing from Live Nation, the entertainment behemoth that owns Ticketmaster. In a January statement supporting the concept, the company argued that no one should be able to scam fans by listing tickets they don’t have.
That corporate alignment sparked immediate skepticism from critics who feared the legislation was engineered to help Live Nation suppress secondary market competitors. On the opposing side, ticket reseller Stubhub lobbied aggressively against the bill, spending $4.4 million across the two-year legislative session to shape the outcome. In a surprising twist, Stubhub eventually threw its support behind the final version of the bill.
However, the final legislative compromise left critical industry stakeholders deeply dissatisfied. The National Independent Venue Association, which championed the original incarnation of the bill, vehemently opposed the amended version and urged a gubernatorial veto. Stephen Parker, executive director of the association, warned in a written statement that the final text creates liabilities for music venues and festivals while carving out exemptions for major resale platforms like Stubhub.
According to the National Independent Venue Association, independent operators risk breaking the law simply by selling presale, VIP, or waitlisted tickets. The organization argued that the amendments protect ticket resellers by exempting resale marketplaces from being classified as speculative ticket sellers, even though every speculative sale happens on their platforms.
Unresolved Policy Questions and Future Legislative Battles
Recognizing the friction within the final bill, Governor Newsom issued a signing statement asking lawmakers to revisit the statute to address potential regulatory loopholes. While acknowledging the importance of curbing deceptive sales, he noted that the legislation may exempt marketplaces that he suggested should be regulated.
While there may be good reasons for exempting certain sellers from the bill’s provisions, such a carve-out deserves further discussion, and I encourage the author to work with stakeholders to refine this policy, Newsom wrote in his signing statement.
The debate over ticket reform extends beyond speculative listings. Earlier in the legislative cycle, lawmakers weighed a companion bill that would have instituted a 10% markup cap on resale tickets. That measure ultimately stalled in August within the Senate Appropriations Committee, leaving price gouging largely unaddressed while California shifts its immediate enforcement focus toward phantom inventory.
