A new bill has been introduced in Washington DC targeting scalpers and secondary ticketing platforms by putting in place a price cap on resold tickets, banning speculative ticket sales, and requiring individuals and businesses selling more than 50 tickets a year to register with the District.
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), along with DC Councilmember Charles Allen, local music artist CJ Johnson, office of the DC Attorney General, concert promoters I.M.P and 30 other local venues and music industry organisations, introduced the Restricting Egregious Scalping Against Live Entertainment (RESALE) Amendment Act of 2025.
The event took place at The Anthem, and also included representatives from many of DC’s music venues.
The bill is being co-introduced by Councilmembers Robert White, Kenyan McDuffie, Zachary Parker, Christina Henderson, Brianne Nadeau, Janeese Lewis George, and Matt Frumin.
This legislation aims to protect artists, venues and consumers in the District from deceptive practices by capping the price of resale tickets to the total price of the initial pass plus up to 10%. It would also clarify the existing Consumer Protection Procedures Act with language specifying that ticket issuers, resellers, and secondary ticket exchanges must clearly and conspicuously disclose certain information upfront regarding ticket pricing.
The bill would further ban the sale of speculative tickets, ensure the listing for a ticket includes the total price at all stages of the buying process, and prohibit a ticket issuer from restricting the transferability of a ticket unless the terms and conditions on transferability are clearly disclosed to the consumer prior to purchase.
“Right now, people who want to go to a live show in DC are competing against companies and scalpers who make a lot of money by immediately scooping up as many tickets as possible and re-selling them at a much higher cost than the venue or performer is asking,” commented Councilmember Allen.
“A $40 (£31/€36) ticket could end up reselling for over $1,000. The result is fewer fans can afford to see their favourite artist at one of the amazing venues DC has to offer. These middlemen are making millions by driving up prices, with the profit exclusively going to the scalper and never to the artists or venue. They aren’t performing on stage, they aren’t running a venue – they’re just making it all more expensive.”
Speculative ticketing
An example was given of speculative ticketing, which saw tickets for a show from pop duo Sparks at Washington’s Lincoln Theatre listed on platforms such as StubHub, Vivid Seats, Ticket Center and TicketNetwork for over $1,000.
However, these tickets have not been released yet and will be made available from the Lincoln Theatre for $55. Tickets will go on sale on April 11.
A search by TheTicketingBusiness found that tickets for the show were still listed on StubHub despite not having gone on sale yet.
The bill would also require a reseller that sells or offers to sell 50 or more tickets per year to register annually with the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, while also providing certain information to the department and maintain a surety bond of no less than $10,000.
Legislation would further impose responsibilities on secondary ticket exchanges, and require the Mayor to issue rules to implement provisions governing the registration of resellers and provide for civil penalties of $5,000 per ticket for the first violation, and $10,000 per ticket for subsequent violations.
“Washington DC has the opportunity to stop deception and price gouging in ticketing across the nation’s capital,” said NIVA executive director Stephen Parker.
“NIVA will do everything possible to help the DC Council enshrine the RESALE Act of 2025 into law this year and fully protect consumers in the District from predatory resale practices.”