Assembly BillPassed first houseBusiness and Professions
AB 1720: Ticket sellers.
What AB 1720 does, verified August 15, 2026
<p>The bill introduces regulations for ticket resellers and marketplaces, prohibiting resellers from selling tickets at more than 10% above their original price and requiring them to include all mandatory fees in advertised prices. It also mandates resale marketplaces to charge no more than 10% of the original face value of a ticket and requires these platforms to ensure that resellers disclose the original ticket price. Additionally, it obligates original sellers to print or display the original purchase price on tickets. Violations would result in civil penalties and could expand existing criminal laws.</p>
Bill journey
✓IntroducedComplete
✓In CommitteeComplete
✓First Chamber FloorComplete
4Second ChamberCurrent
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: In committee: Held under submission. (2026-08-13)Alert me
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Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $16/moUnlockRecent actions25 total · showing 5
| Aug. 13, 2026 | In committee: Held under submission. |
| Aug. 03, 2026 | In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file. |
| Jul. 01, 2026 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 4.) (June 30). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Jun. 29, 2026 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (June 29). Re-referred to Com. on JUD. |
| Jun. 22, 2026 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P. (Ayes 6. Noes 2.) (June 22). Re-referred to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P. |
Latest bill textAmended version, May 18, 2026 · 1,894 words
| Amended IN Assembly May 18, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly April 14, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly April 08, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly March 19, 2026 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 1720
| Introduced by Assembly Member Haney |
February 05, 2026 |
An act to add Section 22502.5 to the Business and Professions Code, relating to sales.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1720, as amended, Haney. Ticket sellers.
Existing law provides for the comprehensive regulation of ticket sellers, including a requirement to maintain records of ticket sales, deposits, and refunds. For purposes of these provisions, existing law defines a ticket seller as any person who, for compensation, commission, or otherwise, sells admission tickets to an event, and defines a primary contractor as the person or organization who is responsible for the event for which tickets are being sold. Existing law makes it unlawful for a ticket seller to represent that they can deliver or cause to be delivered a ticket at a specific price or within a specific price range and to fail to deliver within a reasonable time or by a contracted time the tickets at or below the price stated or within the range of prices stated. Existing law requires a ticket seller to disclose that a service charge is imposed by the ticket seller and is added to the actual ticket price by the seller in any advertisement or promotion for any event by the ticket seller. Existing law makes a violation of the laws regulating ticket sellers a misdemeanor.
Existing law, with specified exceptions, makes unlawful advertising, displaying, or offering a price for a good or service that does not include all mandatory fees or charges other than taxes or fees imposed by a government on the transaction, as specified.
This bill, except as specified, would prohibit a ticket reseller, as defined, from selling a ticket for more than the equivalent of the original price for the ticket plus 10%, as specified, and would also prohibit a ticket reseller from advertising, displaying, or offering a price for a ticket that does not include all mandatory fees or charges. The bill would prohibit a ticket resale marketplace, as defined, from charging more than 10% of the original face value of the ticket, as specified, and would require a ticket resale marketplace to require the ticket reseller to disclose the original price of the ticket, as described. The bill would require an original seller, as defined, to print or display on a ticket the original purchase price of that ticket. The bill would limit these provisions to the resale of tickets where the event is held at an independent venue, as specified. Because the bill would create new crimes, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make an original seller, ticket reseller, or ticket resale marketplace that violates these provisions subject to specified civil penalties and would authorize the Attorney General, county counsel, or city attorney to assess and recover those penalties in a civil action. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) California’s cultural and creative events, including concerts, live performances, nonprofit productions, festivals, and community events, are essential to the state’s cultural life and local economies.
(b) Independent venues, small businesses, nonprofit stages, and community-based promoters serve as economic anchors and incubators for emerging artists across California.
(c) Music artists invest significant creative, financial, and personal resources in bringing live performances to their fans. The ability to set the terms and conditions of ticket sales, including price, transferability, and access, is an extension of that creative and economic investment.
(d) Certain industrial-scale resellers purchase large quantities of tickets at initial sale and relist them at prices significantly above face value, thereby reducing ticket availability at lawful prices. These resellers extract significant economic value from live music events without contributing to the creation, production, or promotion of those events.
(e) When tickets are acquired in bulk and relisted at excessive markups, events of all sizes become financially out of reach for many Californians and public trust in the ticketing marketplace erodes. Artists lose meaningful control over how their work reaches the public, undermining their ability to manage their careers and protect their livelihoods. The crews and venue staff who make live performances possible depend on the economic ecosystem surrounding those events.
(f) There is a distinction between true fans who resell a ticket due to changed plans and high-volume resale activity driven by systematic bulk purchasing and markup strategies. Artists have a legitimate interest in ensuring that their fans, not industrial resellers, have access to their performances at prices the artist intended.
(g) Violations of law relating to ticket sales often involve dozens or hundreds of tickets per event, requiring enforcement tools that scale proportionally to the harm.
(h) The objectives of the state’s policy with regard to ticket sellers include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Protecting the affordability of cultural and creative events in California.
(2) Ensuring that tickets are more likely to reach fans who intend to attend these events, not industrial resellers.
(3) Preserving and strengthening independent venues, nonprofit stages, and community-based small businesses.
(4) Promoting fairness, transparency, and integrity in the secondary ticket marketplace.
SEC. 2.
Section 22502.5 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:22502.5.
(a) (1) (A) A ticket reseller shall not sell or facilitate the sale of a ticket for more than the equivalent of the original price for the ticket plus 10 percent.(B) If a ticket has been resold or transferred more than once, regardless of the purchase price in the resale market, the maximum resale price shall remain no more than 10 percent above the original purchase price.
(2) (A) The limit described in paragraph (1) shall apply to the total price paid by the consumer and includes any required fees charged by the original seller or any digital platform through which the ticket is sold.
(B) An original seller shall print or display on a ticket the original purchase price of that ticket.
(3) A ticket reseller shall not evade the price limitations described in paragraph (1) by imposing separate charges, processing fees, delivery fees, or other charges not included in the original ticket price in excess of 10 percent.
(b) A ticket reseller shall not advertise, display, or offer a price for a ticket that does not include all mandatory fees or charges other than either of the following:
(1) Taxes or fees imposed by a government on the transaction.
(2) Postage or carriage charges that will be reasonably and actually incurred to ship the ticket to the consumer.
(c) (1) A ticket resale marketplace shall not charge more than 10 percent of the original face value of the ticket in additional fees to the reseller or the buyer of the ticket.
(2) A ticket resale marketplace shall require the ticket reseller to disclose, on the ticket resale marketplace platform listing, the original price of the ticket.
(d) (1) Upon an action brought by the Attorney General, a city attorney, or a county counsel, an original seller, ticket reseller, or ticket resale marketplace that violates this section shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) per ticket sold for a first violation, and up to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per ticket sold for subsequent violation. violations.
(2) A knowing and willful pattern or practice of violation of this section shall be punishable by a civil penalty of up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) per ticket sold in violation of this section.
(e) The civil penalties described in subdivision (d) may be assessed and recovered in a civil action to enforce this section brought by the Attorney General, county counsel, or city attorney.
(f) In addition to the civil penalties described in subdivision (d), the Attorney General, county counsel, or city attorney, who prevails in an action to enforce this section shall be entitled to injunctive relief, restitution, or disgorgement of any proceeds obtained as a result of the violation.
(g) This section shall apply only to the resale of tickets where the event is held at an independent venue and where either of the following occur:
(1) The seating capacity of the venue is 3,000 individuals or fewer.
(2) The event is to be held at a nonprofit venue that hosts agricultural fairs, exhibitions, or multiday community events in addition to live performances.
(g)
(h) This section shall not apply to any of the following:
(1) A ticket to a professional athletic contest or event.
(2) A ticket to an athletic contest by a season ticketholder or season ticket licenseholder.
(3) A ticket to a collegiate or amateur athletic contest or event conducted by, or under the authority of, a collegiate athletic association or a national governing body. The athletic contests or events described in this subparagraph include events hosted at large entertainment venues or arenas within the state and events involving collegiate athletic teams competing in tournaments or championship contests.
(4) A ticket to an athletic contest or event, tournament, or series of games or matches involving athletes or teams representing foreign nations, including, but not limited to, the FIFA World Cup or Olympics.
(h)
(i)
For purposes of this section, the following terms apply:(1) “Collegiate or amateur championship sporting event” includes, but is not limited to, postseason tournaments or neutral-site competitions conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, conference championships, bowl games, or similar nationally sanctioned collegiate athletic competitions.
(2) “Independent venue” means an event space that derives a majority of its revenue from ticket events, is not majority owned by a publicly traded company, and does not operate venues in more than 10 states.
(2)
(3)
“Original seller” means a person who, for compensation, commission, or otherwise, advertises, lists, markets for sale, or sells an admission ticket to a sporting, musical, theater, or other entertainment event for original sale as instructed by an event presenter, event organizer, rights holder, or venue operator. (3)
(4)
“Professional sporting event” means a sporting event conducted by, or under contract with, a professional sports team or professional sports league in which participating athletes receive compensation for participation in the event.(4)
(5)
“Resale” means any resale of a ticket other than a sale conducted by the primary contractor or its authorized ticket agent.(5)
(6)
“Rights holder” means an artist, performing arts organization, theater or dance company, professional athletic team, professional athletic league, author, lecturer, or any other persons who are the primary speakers or performers at an event for which tickets are sold. (6)
(7)
“Season ticketholder” or “season ticket licenseholder” means a person or entity that purchases or holds a contractual right to purchase a package of tickets directly from a professional sports team, league, or their authorized ticket agent for multiple games or events during a defined season.Text of AB 1720 as amended, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions