March 31 (UPI) -- On Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order addressing ticket pricing with the aim of eliminating price gouging, particularly for high-priced concert tickets on the secondary market which often soar to thousands of dollars for shows like those of Taylor Swift.
In the executive order The Federal Trade Commission was tasked with collaborating with Attorney General Pam Bondi to ensure that antitrust laws were upheld for concerts and various performances.
The Better Online Ticket Sales Act of 2016 empowers the FTC to address actions taken against people and businesses that utilize bots for purchasing large quantities of concert tickets with the intent to resale them.
If necessary, the order will implement measures to stop "unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive behavior" throughout every phase of the ticket-purchasing journey for customers, encompassing the resale marketplace as well.
The Justice Department and Treasury Department were instructed to verify that ticket resellers are fully adhering to the Internal Revenue Code and other applicable laws.
The organizations are required to submit a report within six months.
The musician Kid Rock attended the signing in the Oval Office.
"Over the years, I have discussed this with him, and it annoys him," Trump said. said Regarding Kid Rock, who performed at the Republican National Convention last July in Milwaukee. Many other musicians find this troubling. They mention that fans buy tickets for $100 initially, but the prices skyrocket to around $2,000 by the next evening.
Trump, admitted he hadn't known much about price gouging, said "I checked it out, and it is a big problem."
Trump owned casinos with live entertainment.
Kid Rock, also known as Robert James Ritchie, mentioned at the White House Everyone who has purchased a concert ticket over the past ten or twenty years understands this dilemma, regardless of their political views. By the time you finalize the purchase at $100, it ends up costing around $170. The real issue isn’t just pricing; it’s also about those automated systems known as bots which snatch up all the best seats for popular concerts almost instantly, only to resell them later with markups ranging from four to five hundred percent.
The resale prices surged dramatically for Swift’s global Eras Tour between March 2023 and December 2024. While face-value tickets were priced between $49 and $499, along with additional fees, they reached as high as $30,000 on the secondary market. Axios reported .
In May 2024, the Justice Department, led by President Joe Biden, along with 30 state and district attorneys general, initiated an antitrust legal action against Ticketmaster’s parent firm, Live Nation.
The firm reportedly misused its market leadership to adversely affect consumers across the country.
In December, the FTC banned hidden "convenience" or "service" fees for concert tickets at checkout.
America's live concert and entertainment industry has a total nationwide economic impact of $132.6 billion and supports 913,000 jobs, a White House s assistance provided within a factsheet.
However, this system is marred by unethical intermediaries who charge exorbitant fees for tickets with no advantage to the artists themselves," as stated in the fact sheet. "Scalpers employ bots and other unjust tactics to secure significant numbers of tickets at face value before reselling them at substantially higher prices on the secondary market. This practice exploits consumers through inflated pricing and denies fans the chance to watch their preferred performers without facing unusually high costs.
According to certain accounts, enthusiasts have shelled out up to 70 times the official ticket price to secure seats. In such cases, the musicians see no extra earnings—this excess money ends up with the resellers and the ticket vendors exclusively.
Some states have specific laws To avoid ticket scalping, measures such as setting price ceilings for resale or mandating licenses for resellers have been implemented. In certain states, tickets cannot be sold at more than their original face value when close to the event location.
The order did not specifically reference sporting events but could be interpreted as covering entertainment.