NIVA calls for urgent action on deceptive ticket resale sites

The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) has called for a government investigation into ticket resale websites in a June 8 letter addressed to state attorneys general chief deputies and consumer protection section chiefs.

“Over the last two decades, ticket resale scalpers have worked to change long-standing state laws that made ticket scalping illegal,” the letter begins. “Now, multibillion-dollar ticket resale websites and professional scalpers operate unchecked in a way that has made the ticket resale experience like a black market.”

A common method used to mislead consumers is through deceptive websites or URLs, which NIVA said it recently identified 6,000 of, listed in a spreadsheet attached to the letter.

These sites redirect users away from legitimate ticket box offices and instead send them to platforms such as StubHub, TicketNetwork, Ticket Squeeze, Concerts50 and BigStub. Websites like these are known to price gouge and sell fake tickets.

These deceptive websites often involve unauthorized use of artist or venue imagery; URLs and website text including artist or venue names; design elements that mimic official websites; prices far exceeding the face value of still-available tickets; and tickets for shows that do not exist at the listed venue.

NIVA cited a lack of cataloging for these resale ticketing sites, suggesting this could be a major cause of their continued deception of fans. Even listings that do not successfully deceive fans can be harmful, as high prices can discourage ticket purchases and harm independent venue sales.

“[Ticket scalping] is also harming the fan relationship with artists,” NIVA wrote. “Fans believe that when they click on links to [deceptive] sites… early in the search results, that they are seeing price gouged or speculative tickets directly from [artists and performers]. Those fans feel betrayed.”

The letter highlighted that major scalper and resale platform affiliate programs are empowering fan deception. Websites such as StubHub, TicketNetwork and Ticket Squeeze have affiliate programs paying between 4% and 12.5% commissions on ticket sales.

NIVA wrote that it is unclear whether these websites “own, operate, or are aware of these deceptive sites that could be in violation of state laws,” but said they should be aware regardless of their position.

The association suggested that the websites should have to disclose the names and locations of their partner sellers on their platforms, verify the validity of tickets sold on their platform, and not profit from their affiliates’ deceptive websites.

NIVA said that despite past legal cases involving companies such as TicketNetwork, BigStub and StubHub, action by government and legal authorities has not stopped these deceptive practices.

“We aren’t just assuming fans are falling prey to these deceptive and fraudulent schemes by scalpers and resale platforms,” the letter reads. “There are stories all over the internet… from fans who have lost money and not been able to secure refunds when they bought price gouged tickets or when their tickets did not work.”

The letter lists NIVA’s specific calls for action requested of state attorneys general offices:

Investigate these deceptive websites and any other similar websites for potential violations of your state’s Uniform or Deceptive Acts or Practices and Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Acts and bring enforcement actions against any individuals or entities that are in violation of those laws or regulations.

If your state is one of the 14 with explicit laws banning deceptive URLs or deceptive websites, investigate and bring enforcement actions against any individuals and entities that are in violation of those laws.

Work with your Governor and legislature to put in place additional, explicit consumer protections banning deceptive ticketing websites, speculative tickets, resale price gouging bans, and disclosure requirements for the username/business name and location of each reseller.

They also called on StubHub, TicketNetwork, Viagogo (owner of Stubhub), Concerts50, Ticket Squeeze and BigStub to immediately:

Terminate affiliate and seller accounts for scalpers using deceptive websites or URLs that links to their platform, starting with the 6,000 identified in this letter;

Permanently ban these scalpers from selling on their platforms ever again; and

Cease the operation of their affiliate program until they can effectively ban and police any and all affiliate sellers from using deceptive websites and URLs to sell tickets for their platforms and profit off of that deception.

“We stand ready to work with you to use the full authority of your offices to stop this deception, hold accountable every actor profiting from it, and restore trust in the live experience,” the letter concludes.