SFC calls for amendments to Colorado SB 23-060
Senator Robert Rodriguez, the senate sponsor for SB23-060 “Consumer Protection In Event Ticketing Sales”, removed the Trojan Horse provision of the legislation that gave Live Nation/Ticketmaster and other primary market participants the ability to revoke fans' resold tickets at the gate; allowing the legislation to pass the Senate this week.
"Sports Fans Coalition opposed Colorado’s SB23-060 because of a provision that allowed ticketing companies, venues, and teams to revoke a fan's ticket," said Brian Hess, Executive Director of Sports Fans Coalition. "We commend Senator Rodriguez for removing that trojan horse. However, at this stage in the game, there's still a lot of ground to cover before we can endorse this bill. We look forward to continuing to work with the sponsors to strengthen the bill, especially around all-in pricing, protecting consumers from bots, and better informing consumers when a ticket is speculative. Doing so will make this bill the most consumer-friendly in the country, maintaining Colorado's position as the gold standard in the live event ticketing market.
With the inclusion of Amendment L010 which removes the enforcement action and clarifies that venues are not able to revoke tickets from consumers, SFC's biggest concern with the bill is addressed. However, some of the language included in section 2 of SB23-060 can be made stronger, specifically as it relates to URL/imagery deception, all in pricing, and bot protections.
SFC calls on the House to make the following amendments:
Add language mandating that all bots caught by a primary operator report those bots to the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission,
Require primary ticketing companies disclose exactly how many tickets they holdback,
Mandate that speculative ticketing sales be disclosed clearly and conspicuously.
Clarifications on the language prohibiting deceptive URLS
Revise the all-in pricing language so that it is specific and not left up for interpretation.
Ensure that refund requirements apply to both primary and secondary markets.
With these changes, SFC can support the legislation moving forward in the House.
