California lawmaker aims to tackle Ticketmaster's monopoly

SACRAMENTO -- A California lawmaker introduced a bill that would end exclusive control of ticket sales by companies like Ticketmaster. 

 Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) held a press conference on Monday to share more about the legislation that would provide competition within ticket buying for concerts and sporting events. 

According to Assemblymember Wicks' legislation, Ticketmaster controls 80% of the primary ticket sales in the United States. She said Assembly Bill 2808 was designed to reduce the prices and increase the availability of tickets. 

With this, she says that since Ticketmaster merged with Live Nation Entertainment in 2010, ticket prices have skyrocketed and are up by 140%. 

 "Companies will have to compete for your business, which will lead to lower fees and better service," said Wicks. "Opening retail to competition will also mean more transparency, making it more difficult for fraudulent tickets to be sold." 

CBS13 spoke to fans in Sacramento who agreed with the purpose behind the legislation. 

"I took my mom to Stevie Nicks and we had to get the nosebleeds up top because the fees were crazy," said Villano Gonzalez. 

In a statement to CBS13, a spokesperson for Ticketmaster called the bill a "ticket scalper's dream." 

"We support reforms to improve ticketing, but AB 2808 will not do that. It will instead undermine the efforts of artists, sports teams and primary ticketing companies to minimize ticket scalping. Forcing artists and venues to hand over their intellectual property and tickets to secondary sites is a ticket scalper's dream. AB2808 empowers ticket resellers by blocking any and all price control tools artists can employ, including the use of face value exchanges."

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Madisen Keavy

Madisen reports weekdays on CBS13.

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