ArtsQuest hosted a news conference in support of House Bill 1658 at the Musikfest Café, Bethlehem, Oct. 10.

The legislation that passed unanimously out of the House Consumer Affairs and Utilities Committee on Oct. 4 would legally put a halt to speculative ticket selling.

State Rep. Steve Samuelson (D), Northampton County, provided details of the proposed legislation and ArtsQuest President and CEO Kassie Hilgert and Chief Programming Officer Patrick Brogan described the need for the bill to become law.

“They take your credit card number and not give you a ticket,” said Samuelson about some of the scammers who peddle speculative tickets, usually at a huge markup. The bill, which has bipartisan support, is on track to crack down on speculative ticket sales from misleading broker sites.

He described how customers who do receive unauthorized tickets from these con artists find that multiple tickets for the same seat may have been sold, leaving them without a seat.

“They’re just getting you to go to their website, which looks a lot like ours or other venues, con you into buying these tickets and then they ghost you,” said Hilgert “So, if you show up or you want to change seats or if the show is canceled and there’s a refund, we can do nothing to help you.”

Hilgert also cited safety issues with the unauthorized tickets. With legitimate ticket sales, the venue knows who the customers are and where they are seated if an emergency situation should arise.

“Many of our deals with artists are based upon the original ticketing agreement,” said Brogan. He explained the exorbitant ticket prices charged by the scammers result in lost revenue for artists and the venues, as well as flooding a concert or event with worthless duplicate tickets, creating angry customers and a potential for “a backlash against the artist and future ticket sales for that artist.”

When asked what the penalties would be if the legislation passed, Samuelson said, “$1,000 fine per instance.”

He noted that Ticketmaster and other legitimate third-party brokers have contractual relationships with entertainment and sports venues and only sell tickets they have access to. Also, an individual who has purchased a ticket could still sell it to someone else.

HB 1658 awaits a final House vote in mid-October. If it passes, the bill will go to the Senate.

“Let’s protect the consumers of Pennsylvania,” said Samuelson.