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Ticketmaster to Announce Transparency on Fees at Biden Meeting
(Bloomberg) -- Major ticketing websites including Ticketmaster and SeatGeek Inc. will announce transparency initiatives designed to make it easier for consumers to see all the costs upfront for sports, concerts, and theater performances at an event on eliminating junk fees Thursday at the White House.
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Starting in September, tickets purchased on Ticketmaster for events at venues also owned by parent Live Nation Entertainment Inc. will default to display an all-in price that includes mandatory fees that currently aren’t shown until later in the checkout process.
SeatGeek will also announce new tools over the summer designed to allow customers to be able to compare all-in prices.
The announcements come as ticketing companies have faced waves of criticism, with consumers complaining that the full price of tickets is often far more than initially advertised. Extra fees add an average of 27% to primary ticket sales and 31% to tickets purchased on secondary markets, according to a Government Accountability Office study.
The botched Ticketmaster presale for pop star Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour late last year further damaged the company’s public standing, with fans of the singer calling for antitrust action against Live Nation.
Read More: Taylor Swift Fans Learn Hard Lessons in Supply and Demand
The moves also come as bipartisan groups of lawmakers in both the House and Senate are considering legislation that would require vendors to display the total price of a ticket at the start of a purchase.
“Fans are incredibly frustrated by how hard it has become to buy event tickets,” Representative Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, said in a statement earlier this month after introducing a bipartisan ticketing bill in the House. “With every ticketing debacle, from Beyoncé to Taylor Swift, and so many more, their frustration grows.”
The steps that will be announced Thursday with President Joe Biden at the White House may help those companies stave off new requirements, though the voluntary commitments may fall short of the changes that would occur with legislation.
For instance, legislation under consideration in the House would also require resellers to disclose to consumer if a ticket is being offered speculatively – before a seller has actual possession of a ticket. Nor do the commitments limit the amount sellers and resellers charge in fees – instead simply baking them into the cost first displayed to fans browsing tickets for sale.
The proposed bills would also require sellers to provide an itemized list of each fee associated with a ticket.
“When families budget for a night at a ball game or to hear their favorite band, they shouldn’t have to worry about being surprised by hidden fees that suddenly raise the final cost of tickets well over the advertised price,” Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, said in a statement.
Ticketmaster’s upfront pricing changes only apply to venues it also owns – not stadium and concert halls that are owned by sports teams or other entertainment companies.
Earlier: Biden’s ‘Junk Fee’ Targets Include Concerts, Cable Contracts
Still, the change should benefit some 20 million fans who attend events at more than 200 Live Nation-owned venues nationwide, the White House said.
And the announcement provides Biden a high-profile opportunity to tout his administration’s efforts to confront rising costs before a presidential race in which inflation is expected to be a top issue for voters.
The White House said that Live Nation reached out to the administration after Biden called for an elimination of junk fees during his State of the Union address.
And Biden is expected to highlight other instances where pressure from the administration has resulted in the elimination of extra costs – like airline companies that voluntarily waived fees for parents who wanted to ensure they’d be seated next to their children on flights.
On Tuesday, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra defended his agency’s effort to lower credit card late fees during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill.
“President Biden has been working to lower costs for hardworking families by bringing down inflation, capping insulin prices for seniors, and eliminating hidden junk fees,” Lael Brainard, Biden’s top economic adviser, said in a statement. “More companies are heeding the president’s call so that Americans know what they’re paying for up front and can save money as a result.”
The White House event will also feature representatives from venues in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Rhode Island that already offer all-in pricing.
(Updates to include Cruz comment. Previous version corrects spelling of White House in 1st paragraph.)
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