Kathy Hochul signs law against additional ticket fees

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation on Thursday aimed at cracking down on “malicious” hidden fees for tickets to concerts and sporting events — as well as technology that collects free ducats to sell at a profit before ordinary New Yorkers get them be able.

The law amends and renews the state’s Ticketing Law, increasing civil penalties for using software to buy tickets and requiring online sellers to display a ticket’s full price rather than hiding certain fees.

The new law also bans additional fees for tickets distributed via email, app or SMS on top of those printed at home, and bans the resale of tickets if they were originally offered free.

“Live entertainment has long been a critical sector in our economy, and as consumers and the industry recover from the pandemic, it’s important that we make ticket purchasing easier and more transparent,” Hochul said in a statement. “This law will expand penalties for malicious ticketing practices that have kept live events inaccessible to New Yorkers for too long.”

Hochul gave her approval after State Senator James Skoufis (D-Newburgh), head of the panel’s investigative committee, released a 113-page report in May 2021 accusing companies like Ticketmaster of piling up additional fees for Empire State residents Sports and concert tickets.

On Thursday, Skoufis and other state lawmakers praised Hochul for signing off the legislation.

“While more work needs to be done to ensure the live event ticketing industry is fully accountable to its customers, I’m proud of the work we’ve done this year to eliminate hidden fees, All -in pricing, fighting bots, and many more measures to add some honesty to ticket buying,” Skoufis said.

“Thank you to the governor for signing this important piece of legislation and helping keep more money in consumers’ pockets.”

Congressman Danny O’Donnell (D-Manhattan) gushed that the law “creates a level playing field for everyone in the industry, adds important new consumer protections, and ensures fans and event-goers have access to tickets for any event they want to see.”