Newsom signs 'ghost ticket' ban but says its carve-outs need more work

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred California is taking action against the sale of “ghost tickets.”Gov.Gavin Newsom on Sunday signed a bipartisan bill, AB-1349, that targets the live-event ticket resale market.

“Ghost tickets,” also known as speculative tickets, are concert and sports tickets that resellers list before they actually have them.The new law bars sellers from advertising, listing or selling tickets they don’t possess or have the legal right to receive, unless the event’s presenter or venue allows it.“Buying a ticket shouldn’t come with hidden risks or unfair practices,” said Newsom on X.The law prohibits using software to get around ticket limits, queue and presale restrictions.

It restricts websites and ads designed to make resellers look like authorized ticket sources.Sellers in violation could face misdemeanor charges and penalties.But Newsom signed the bill with reservations.

In a signing statement, the governor said the measure appears to take “an uneven approach allowing select ticket sellers to avoid certain obligations under the bill.” He urged the bill’s author Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-55) to refine the law.Business StubHub sued by soccer fans over World Cup tickets“While there may be good reasons for exempting certain sellers from the bill’s provisions, such a carve-out deserves further discussion,” Newsom wrote.Newsom didn’t say which sellers he meant.

His concerns trace back to amendments made in the final days of the legislative session.Critics say those changes effectively exempt StubHub, one of the biggest ticket resale platforms.

The final version excludes resale marketplaces from the definition of a speculative ticket seller.It does still bar them from knowingly or recklessly facilitating such sales, and it requires them to take “reasonable measures” to prevent the...