California’s latest attempt to put a lid on wildly expensive concert ticket resales is officially dead for the 2026 legislative session, after months of debate and a major lobbying push from StubHub. Assembly Bill 1720, also known as the California Fans First Act, would have capped the resale price of tickets to concerts and other live entertainment events at 10% above the original ticket price, including required fees. The proposal was specifically aimed at tickets for events held at independent venues.
The bill, introduced by California Assemblymember Matt Haney, was pitched as a way to give fans a better shot at actually being able to afford concerts without getting crushed by the secondary market. But after making its way through several committees, AB 1720 was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee and failed to advance this session.
A huge part of the story is the amount of money being spent to fight it.
StubHub Spent Millions Fighting the Bill
According to reporting by Paste Magazine, StubHub mounted a significant lobbying effort against the proposed cap. State lobbying records show the company spent millions of dollars in California as lawmakers considered the legislation. Music Business Worldwide reported that StubHub’s California lobbying spending reached approximately $3.4 million this year, while other reporting has put the company’s spending during the April-to-June period at an even higher figure.
For a bill that would directly affect how much money can be made through ticket resales, StubHub obviously had a pretty big reason to pay attention.
The company operates one of the biggest ticket resale marketplaces in the world, connecting buyers with sellers for concerts, sports, festivals and other live events. StubHub describes itself as a global ticket marketplace serving customers across more than 200 countries and territories. The proposed California law would’ve changed a fundamental part of that resale business: how high a seller could price a ticket.
Right now, a ticket that originally cost $100 can potentially be listed for several times that amount on the secondary market if demand is high enough. We’ve all seen the screenshots — someone buys a ticket for a few hundred bucks and suddenly the same seat is being resold for four figures.
The larger issue is that fans are increasingly stuck in the middle of a complicated ticketing ecosystem. Between primary ticket sellers, promoters, venues, artists, brokers and resale platforms, it can be difficult to figure out who is actually responsible when a $100 ticket suddenly becomes a $500 ticket.
California’s bill was one attempt to answer that question with a pretty straightforward rule: don’t resell the ticket for more than 10% above what it originally cost. For now, that rule isn’t happening. But considering how much fans are paying to get into concerts and how much money is being spent fighting regulations like this, the ticket resale debate is clearly nowhere near finished.
Leave a Comment