Governor Polis Vetoes Ticketing Consumer Protection Bill

Governor Jared Polis wants to protect Colorado's strong "entertainment ecosystem." At least, that's his explanation for vetoing the Consumer Protection in Event Ticketing Sales bill (SB23-060) on June 6, after a last-ditch effort by the bill's sponsors and other supporters ranging from concert promoters to sports venues to save the legislation. The bill had aimed to enshrine legal definitions of bots and other deceptive ticketing practices, outline civil penalties for bad actors and generally defend consumers from scalpers and other ticketing scams.

In a letter accompanying his veto, Polis noted that he "strongly supports" some aspects of the bill, including that it would have expanded the definition of deceptive ticketing practices to include bots, would have  prevented scammer sites from using deceptive URLs, and would have required displayed ticket prices to include all fees. It also would have prohibited venues from denying access to those with valid tickets that were bought through resellers.

"However, there are also some significant problems with the bill that risk upsetting the successful entertainment system in Colorado," Polis wrote, adding that he was concerned that SB23-060 would have the "potential to discourage competition in the sector, ultimately harming consumers." Groups including the National Consumers League and the Consumer Federation of America had called for the bill's veto, he noted.

"Problematic provisions include new conditions on the secondary market and common resale practices that limit consumer access to innovative products that address existing market failures, such as online ticket waiting services. In addition, the bill uses open-ended, ambiguous language including under applicability of unfair trade practices that could be broadly interpreted with potentially negative implications, such as around the use of 'lookalike' content under deceptive trade practices," Polis explained in his statement.

The governor also took issue with the bill's language regarding ticket transferability, which would prohibit resale for ADA tickets or those issued for charitable causes. "While the intent may be admirable, the language is written too broadly and could lead to unintended restrictions on the lawful transfer of tickets. If there is a desire to ensure that tickets that are donated to charities and are fully part of a charitable event are non-transferable, then that is language I and other stakeholders could indeed support," he wrote.

Polis said that he would be open to a more balanced and specific bill in the future, concluding: "I appreciate the sponsors' work and encourage them to work with consumer advocates, online ticketing platforms and resellers, and my administration in future legislative sessions to draft an unambiguously pro-consumer bill that holds both primary and secondary ticket sellers accountable without unintended consequences that hurt innovation and hamper the marketplace."