Polis Signs Law Prohibiting Hidden Ticket Fees, Event Cancellations Without Refunds

Buying concert tickets will soon become slightly less unbearable in Colorado under a new consumer protection law signed by Governor Jared Polis on Wednesday, June 5.

Beginning in August, the law will prohibit selling a ticket without disclosing the total cost including fees and service charges. It will also prohibit raising prices once a ticket has been selected for purchase, and require event operators and ticket resellers to provide full refunds to customers who buy counterfeit tickets or tickets for events that are later canceled.

This comes as the ticket-selling industry has turned upside down in recent years, with prices climbing astronomically high as resellers buy out events and average fans are forced to buy tickets secondhand, sometimes receiving fake or duplicate tickets. This has led to hundreds of Bad Bunny concert tickets being canceled during his world tour and Taylor Swift fans experiencing hours-long wait times for tickets that cost thousands of dollars a pop.

“Taylor’s worldwide Eras Tour opened many people's eyes to the 'Bad Blood' between Coloradans and 'Hoax' ticketing scams," Polis says in a Swift song-themed statement.

"This bill protects concert-goers from a 'Labyrinth' of hidden fees and helps ensure Coloradans don't have another 'Cruel Summer' filled with fraudulent tickets," he continues. "Today, Coloradans are closer than ever to being 'Out of the Woods' from scams."

This is the first update to Colorado's ticketing statutes since 2008, fittingly signed into law at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, according to the governor's office.

The law, House Bill 24-1378, will also make other changes, including banning the use of similar web designs or URLs to trick customers into thinking a reseller is an event’s official ticket seller; mandating that operators cannot deny someone access to an event because they bought a ticket through a reseller; and requiring refunds if a ticket is not as advertised or does not grant the customer entrance to the event through no fault of their own. “Colorado is once again leading the way in the fight for fans; it’s the new gold standard for consumer protection,” says Brian Berry, advocacy director of Protect Ticket Rights. “This law holds all ticket sellers to the same standard while delivering fans the transparency they deserve when shopping for tickets to their favorite game or show.”

Lawmakers passed the bill in May, with 82 out of 100 state legislators voting in favor of it — but until Wednesday, it was uncertain whether the bill would become law.

This is the second year in a row that Colorado lawmakers have attempted to tackle issues in the event ticket-selling industry. Last year, legislators passed Senate Bill 23-60, which would have made many of the same changes as House Bill 1378, as well as ban speculative ticketing (a practice in which companies resell tickets they do not yet own and customers are often not guaranteed to receive the tickets they purchase).

Polis ultimately vetoed Senate Bill 60, even after it secured support from nearly three-quarters of lawmakers. At the time, he said the bill unfairly targeted resellers and risked "upsetting the successful entertainment ecosystem in Colorado."

Unlike its predecessor, House Bill 1378 does not prohibit speculative ticketing. StubHub, Vivid Seats, Ticket Network and the Sports Fans Coalition also back the law. Last year, all four of the organizations opposed Senate Bill 60.

"We worked in good faith with folks on all sides of this issue," State Representative William Lindstedt, the bill's sponsor, told Westword in April. "I think these are things that everyone can agree on to make buying tickets in this state just a little bit better for consumers."

“Unfortunately, most Coloradans have had negative experiences with the ticket industry that make it more difficult for them to attend concerts and professional sports games,” adds bill sponsor Representative Alex Valdez. “Our legislation will bolster protections for consumers, making ticket-buying a more secure process so Coloradans can feel better about their purchase."

No groups registered in opposition to House Bill 1378, according to the Secretary of State's Office. Ticket-selling giants AXS and Live Nation, which merged with Ticketmaster in 2010, are neutral on the new law.