TICKET SPECULATION

What is It and What You Can Do About It

By Curt Mosel and Jenn LoConte

Before digital technology became the norm, concert venues, promoters and musicians only had to worry about ticket scalpers showing up outside the show, trying to sell tickets to hopeful concert goers looking to score a ticket. Today, the idea of third-party ticket sellers, also known as ticket speculators, has become a sophisticated and often difficult to catch industry, and the unknowing public is left feeling taken advantage of and rightfully angry. Unfortunately, that frustration can spill over to the venue and even the musician they wanted to see perform.

Ticket Speculation Defined

Ticket speculation is the practice of reselling a ticket without having purchased the ticket prior to promoting it for sale. Speculators typically market their ‘tickets’ on social media pages of the rightsholder organization (i.e.) the venue, and at an inflated price. Speculators may say a concert is sold-out when it in fact is not or may say they have tickets available before the event even goes on sale. Most times, these tickets are sold at an outrageous price point, or they may not even exist at all. The unknowing public sees the speculator’s post for ‘on sale tickets’ on the venue’s social media page and thinks it’s legit.

The goal for the ticket speculator is to lure the patron, using official looking photographs, verbiage and duplicated content in order to confuse the purchaser into thinking they are on the official site of the rightsholder. They also mislead the public into thinking inventory is sparse or sold out.

Ticket speculation is occurring more frequently than ever before and the speculator is becoming smarter, as well. Let’s say an individual is looking to purchase two tickets to an upcoming show. They log into a social media platform of the venue where they know the concert is taking place. They see a post from ‘someone’ stating they have two tickets to the now sold-out show and they’re great seats! The buyer takes a closer look at the post, maybe even clicking on the person who posted it. It seems like a real person, maybe even someone with a ‘trustworthy’ profile photo and they think – seems real. But, in reality, the individual who posted having the tickets for sale, isn’t even a real person; it’s a ‘bot’ – a software application belonging to the speculator, with the intent to imitate human activity. The individual gives their credit card information, thinking they scored tickets to a sold-out show, and they don’t mind paying more money than they thought they would since they think it’s sold-out.

Take note: the use of Bots has been illegal since 2016 when the BOTS Act was enacted. Yet, there has only been one enforcement of this act since that time. (The BOTS Act gives the FTC authority to take law enforcement action against individuals and companies that use bots or other means to circumvent limits on online ticket purchases).

So, what happens next? A few possible outcomes – the buyer gets their tickets, goes to the show and sees it’s clearly not sold out and they’re now upset that they got duped into paying more money. Or, they may not even receive their tickets and when they try to contact the seller, they’re non-existent. They may decide to contact the venue itself, asking for help, but unfortunately, the venue can’t refund money for tickets that didn’t come from them and had nothing to do with the transaction.

Ultimately, frustration is usually directed at the rightsholder or the artist, but the speculator remains invisible in the background. The person who unknowingly purchased these tickets wants justice for what’s happened, and the speculator is invisible.

Tickets speculators also prey on individuals who do not speak English as their native language. A more specific example sites a Spanish-speaking family who spent an exorbitant amount of money to see a favorite Latin performer at a recent music festival. According to the site that the family purchased their tickets from, they thought it was a sold-out show. When the family arrived inside the venue, they were surprised to see the large number of empty seats that never filled during the show. They complained to the venue and after further research on the part of the box office, it was discovered that the tickets were not purchased from them, but instead from a ticket speculator who was acting as the venue.

Who is Affected by Ticket Speculation?

The short answer – everyone involved in the live music ecosystem. Aside from the ticket buyer, there are many individuals, businesses and organizations who will suffer from this malicious practice. The venue has to spend countless hours fielding and responding to phone calls, emails and social media posts making the public aware that they are not the venue that sold the tickets in question and cannot be held accountable for the buyers’ financial loss. They also have to take extra time deleting speculator posts and warning the public not to buy from third party sites. A show may be postponed or even canceled but because the tickets were bought from a third party, refunds are impossible to issue.

Venues may also be affected if ticket speculators file chargebacks through their credit card companies for tickets they couldn’t resell after the event is over, upwards of a few thousand dollars per month.

Travel and tourism are affected, as well. When the promised ticket fails to materialize, the venue loses credibility in the eyes of the public and businesses like restaurants, bars and parking garages lose vital income. Even the performers are negatively affected when tickets are sold for a premium by speculators, and the musician receives no piece of profit from that inflated ticket price. They can even lose fans over bad experiences that they had nothing to do with.

And, vendors can be adversely affected, too. Ticket speculators will try to sell event space to unknowing vendors who may then purchase the space for thousands of dollars, travel across the country to the event and when they arrive, are turned away because they didn’t actually purchase vendor space through the venue.

What the Public Can Do and What’s Happening on the State and Federal Level?

Ultimately, a federal law will unify the country in ending ticket speculation but involvement on a state level can help to keep the momentum going. Contact your local legislator to discuss ticket speculation and write a letter to your state senator.

Recently, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania put forth a bill (House Bill1658) to force resellers to follow strict guidelines in addition to a fine of $1,000 per violation. “When a consumer pays for a ticket, they have a right to assume the seller has that ticket in hand,” commented PA Representative Rob Matzie. “That’s not always the case because of speculative ticketing. If the reseller fails to obtain the ticket, it’s the consumer who loses out. They’re out the price of the ticket and any other money they’ve laid out on travel, hotels and other expenses.”

The bill – which is supported by Ticketmaster, Live Nation and the Pennsylvania Attorney General – would also prohibit resellers from creating deceptive websites or images that trick consumers into thinking they are purchasing their tickets directly from the venue.

Matzie said his legislation is not intended to eliminate a market for secondary sellers, but to do away with a predatory and deceptive practice that can leave consumers empty-handed.

Additional bills have been put forward by the U.S. Senate including the Fans First Act and the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 3950), the Transparency In Charges for Key Events Ticketing (TICKET) Act which is expected to pass this spring.

What Can Organizations Do?

Curt Mosel, ArtsQuest Chief Operating Officer, joined a panel discussion at the International Festivals & Events Association’s 2023 Convention, with over 80 organizations in attendance, on current issues and events that directly impact the way we do business, affecting our customers, clients and communities.

“At ArtsQuest, we rely heavily on ticket sales, approximately 250,000 are sold each year,” commented Mosel, Chief Operating Officer at ArtsQuest. “That includes our over 4,000 programs (festivals, concerts and shows), camps and classes for youth and adults each year along with Musikfest, the nation’s largest non-gated music festival. Ticket speculators directly sabotage our mission of providing access to the arts for all and negatively affect our community.”

The practice of ticket speculation is evolving fast, from ticket purchases to vendor space. Even key words that an organization uses (i.e.) tickets vs. tix can change the outcome of a search. Solution? Continually evolve your messaging.

“Organizations are greatly impacted by this deceptive practice,” continues Mosel.” From headlining concerts to smaller visual arts programs including youth camps and classes, IFEA members and cultural organizations around the country can become victims.”

Mosel adds that fans should be 100% sure they are clicking on the legitimate venue site when purchasing tickets to an event. And, be informed that the official

venue is not always the top site on a search engine since speculators often outspend rightsholders to market their deceptive site.

Venue sites can help, too. “Educating the public about ticket speculators can help keep them at bay,” Mosel continues. “Continual posts on the rightsholder’s social media pages and websites, warning people not to purchase tickets from anyone other than the venue itself. And, if something seems questionable, call or email the box office or the organization itself.”

Ticket speculators make money off everyone involved in the live music ecosystem. They are not re-investing in that system which ultimately hurts everyone from the venue to the musician to the stagehand and ultimately the ticket buyer.

Curt Mosel is the Chief Operating Officer at ArtsQuest, a nonprofit arts and cultural organization with a mission of providing access to the arts for all. Mr. Mosel has been with ArtsQuest for 15 years, leading a 30+ person team responsible for marketing, merchandise, public relations, ticketing corporate partnerships, operations and IT initiatives supporting arts and cultural programming for the region. He has also successfully led the development of the FIFA World Cup™ SoccerFest & Viewing Party in 2014 which attracted more than 50,000 people to the city of Bethlehem and was also named one of the Best New Events of that year by IFEA. Mr. Mosel resides in Emmaus, PA.

Jennifer LoConte is the Director of Communications at ArtsQuest and has over 20 years of experience in public relations, crisis communications and both professional and creative writing. She has worked in a number of industries including non-profits, law enforcement agencies and corporate real estate. She enjoys furthering the mission of ArtsQuest through storytelling and building relationships with members of the media. Ms. LoConte resides in Bethlehem, PA.