MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — People buying tickets online for concerts, sporting events and other live events in Minnesota will be guaranteed more transparency and protections under a so-called Taylor Swift bill signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Tim Walz.
The law, driven by lawmakers’ frustration at not being able to buy tickets to Swift’s 2023 concert in Minneapolis, will require ticket sellers to disclose all fees in advance and prohibit resellers from selling more tickets. a copy of a ticket, among other measures. . The law will apply to tickets purchased in Minnesota or other states for concerts or other live events held in Minnesota.
Walz signed House File 1989 – a reference to Swift’s birth year and an album by that title – at First Avenue, a popular music venue in downtown Minneapolis.
“Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that we would witness a bill signing for House File 1989 on First Avenue,” said Democratic Rep. Kelly Moller, chief author of the law Project.
Moller was among thousands of people who found themselves stuck in ticket sales company Ticketmaster’s system after it crashed in 2022, due to huge demand for Swift concert tickets and bot attacks, which attempted to buying tickets to resell them at inflated prices. The situation led to congressional hearings but no federal legislation.
Supporters of Minnesota’s new law say the state joins Maryland among the few states to enact protections for ticket buyers.
Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Minnesota’s new law. Taylor Swift’s media team has also not responded.
Jessica Roey, a spokesperson for StubHub, said in an email: “StubHub has long advocated for legislation that protects fans from anti-competitive and anti-consumer practices in the ticket purchasing process. We share the goals of HF1989 and look forward to continuing discussions with policymakers to advance policies that provide more transparency, more control and more choice for ticket buyers.
Walz, a Democrat, said the new law is “a protection so that you don’t get a bad ticket, a fraudulent ticket, and the scalpers can’t grab them all before you have the opportunity.”
Two young girls – one wearing a shirt that said “A LOT going on right now” in a nod to Swift, and another wearing a shirt that said “Iowa 22” in reference to basketball star Caitlin Clark – attended the bill signing with their dad, Mike Dean, who testified in favor of the bill this year.
Dean said his daughter “came to me in December and said, ‘Dad, I want to go see Caitlin Clark.’ As a father, I couldn’t resist. And so I went online to buy tickets.
The tickets were supposed to cost $300 total, Dean said, but ended up costing more than $500 due to hidden fees. The timer had started in the online payment process, so he only had a few minutes left to decide whether to buy the tickets or lose them.
He finally bought the tickets. But Dean said these practices prevent customers from making informed decisions. The new law, he said, will bring transparency to the process.
The law takes effect on January 1, 2025 and applies to tickets sold on or after that date.
Adrianna Korich, First Avenue’s director of ticketing, said she supports the new rules, saying fans are sometimes tricked into paying up to 10 times the face value of a ticket because of misleading websites and resellers who list tickets without actually owning them. The new law prohibits both, she said.
“We’ve all heard the horror stories of the Taylor Swift Eras tour and seen the astronomical prices charged at the box office,” Korich said.
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Trisha Ahmed is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15.
