Press Release: “Protect Ticket Rights” Now LIVE: Ticket Owners and Resellers Have Rights

National Association of Ticket Brokers Campaign Advocates for Consumer Choice and an Open, Competitive Resale Market for Tickets to Live Events

Washington, DC - The National Association of Ticket Brokers (NATB) today launched Protect Ticket Rights (www.ProtectTicketRights.org) to inform ticket holders and resellers of their rights, raise awareness of unfair practices underway by large and powerful players in the system, and to advocate for an open and competitive secondary resale market free of unfair and harmful restrictions. Protect Ticket Rights is calling for an end to various restrictions on a ticket holders’ ability to buy, sell and transfer their tickets as they wish and on their own terms.

“We believe the best interest of fans and their access to an open resale market where they can buy and sell freely should absolutely come first. Unfortunately because of what’s going on with some teams, ticket issuers, venues, and others, that’s not always the case,” said Gary Adler, Executive Director of NATB. “Simply put, market manipulation by ticket issuers and others in the powerful and controlling primary market harms consumers. This is the fundamental issue Protect Ticket Rights will be working to address.”

Specifically, efforts are underway in many different forms that restrict the purchase, sale and transfer of tickets. Some of the most egregious include:

• Restricting Transferability: Some performers, promoters and venues use paperless tickets which require the credit card holder who purchased them to show the card and ID at the door of the event. This means that only the original purchaser can use the tickets, essentially eliminating the ability for tickets to be transferred (shared, gifted or sold).
• Ticket Cancellations / Non-Renewal of Season Tickets: Some sports teams are cancelling, threatening to cancel, or choosing not renew accounts of season ticket holders that they believe are reselling tickets, punishing the most vested fans in an effort to have even more control over the primary and secondary ticket markets. Few season ticket holders can attend every game, so it’s reasonable they may want to give away or sell some of their tickets. Others may need to resell a portion of their tickets as a means to afford their full ticket package.  It is never good for consumers in any industry where the market is controlled in this manner.
• Ticket-Buying Software - “Bots”: The use of computer software commonly known as “bots” and auto-dialing programs to rapidly buy up event tickets before fans can access them is detrimental, manipulating demand and driving up prices significantly. NATB members oppose the use of bots and support efforts to crack down on their use. Protect Ticket Rights calls upon ticket issuers and exchanges (online marketplaces where fans and brokers resell their tickets) to do more to root out bot users, and to report the information to appropriate authorities.  
• Resale Platform Exclusivity:  Some sports leagues, teams and primary ticket platforms are requiring ticket buyers to use a single designated resale ticket platform should they wish to resell their tickets with terms (such as minimum resale prices regardless of actual market value) set and controlled by the team. These price minimums regardless of actual market value and charge more fees despite fees already being paid in the initial sale. Recent reports indicate fees can average 21% of face values already.
• Ticket Holds: Event promoters and venues commonly place “holds” on large numbers of tickets before they go on sale to the public. Reports indicate that only 46% of tickets become available when tickets go on sale, leaving less than half to meet demand – which is the reason events sell out too quickly and lead to frustration over supply and market price. 

“Open markets with lots of competition are good for consumers in every industry including live event tickets” continued Adler. “Yet under misleading pretenses there is too much going on that limits resale and transferability and it is important to reveal these unfair practices and help lawmakers protect ticket rights. When you consider the fact that approximately 40% of ticket resales occur at prices at or below the ticket’s face value, you realize it is not accurate to point all the blame at brokers and that there must be more than meets the eye.”

NATB and its Protect Ticket Rights initiative defend the rights of ticket buyers and sellers through a stringent Code of Ethics, legislative advocacy and in the public arena. We do so according to the following values, as outlined in NATB’s Ticket Owner Bill of Rights. NATB brokers are professional resellers that offer a 200% refund on guaranteed tickets.

Learn more about the project, NATB, and the truth about the secondary market at www.ProtectTicketRights.org