Coloradans Overwhelmingly Say No to Proposed Ticket Monopoly Law

April 5, 2021

By Protect Ticket Rights

In an unfortunate turn of events, one of the most anti-consumer ticket bills introduced in any of the 50 state legislatures has appeared in Denver, Colorado.  SB21-186, The Event Ticket Sales and Resales Regulation, should be discarded immediately. Colorado state senators are scheduled to give this meritless bill a hearing in the Senate Business, Labor & Technology Committee on Monday, April 5. The proposal should be voted down unanimously. Here’s why:  

The rights of ticket holders can be summarized into several simple components. One is strong refund protection should tickets not be delivered as promised or if the event gets cancelled. Another basic principle is that consumers should be able to do what they want with their tickets such as transferring, reselling, or giving them away. For the past several years, large and powerful companies in the ticketing industry have been advancing technologies capable of controlling what you can and cannot do with your purchased tickets. This is wrong! Think about it, after you buy a car, can the dealership still control or restrict  what you do with your vehicle? Can they prevent you from selling your car when you want to, how you want to, and for the price of your choosing? No, of course not. But this has been happening slowly and steadily with tickets to live events. Fortunately, several states have passed laws that protect your ticket rights, including Virginia, Connecticut, New York, and Colorado. A much-needed federal law has been proposed to provide these protections across the nation and to all ticket holders.  

And now, just as live events are starting to re-appear in a post pandemic world, SB21-186, The Event Ticket Sales and Resales Regulation has been introduced in the State Senate. It will weaken Colorado’s strong ticket consumer protection laws. SB21-186 will take away your freedom and choice to do what you want with your tickets. This is a major step backwards for consumers and the most anti-consumer legislation we have witnessed to date with regards to the live events ticket market.  

Colorado legislators should abandon this proposal. SB21-186 Event Ticket Sales and Resales Regulation is not good for Colorado and not what consumers in Colorado support.   

COLORADO POLLING ON TICKET LEGISLATION 

This week we asked 500 Colorado adults ages 18+ on Google Surveys for their opinion and the results overwhelmingly show that consumers do not want this bill.  

By a 4 to 1 margin, Coloradans want to maintain their ability to freely transfer their tickets. 

SURVEY QUESTION: If you do not use your tickets to a concert or game, should you have the freedom and choice to do what you want with your tickets, like reselling or giving them away? 

  • 81% said YES, I paid and the decision should be mine 
  • 19% said NO, the ticket issuer should have control 

Roughly 3 out of 4 Coloradans OPPOSE legislation that repeals ticket transferability. 

SURVEY QUESTION: Do you SUPPORT or OPPOSE legislation that takes way your right to do what you want with you unused tickets to games or concerts, like reselling them or giving them away? 

  • 75% OPPOSE and say “I should keep my ability to resell” 
  • 25% SUPPORT and say “ticket resale should be restricted”  

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