Existing law provides for the comprehensive regulation of ticket sellers, including a requirement to maintain records of ticket sales, deposits, and refunds. For purposes of these provisions, existing law defines a ticket seller as any person who, for compensation, commission, or otherwise, sells admission tickets to an event, and defines a primary contractor as the person or organization who is responsible for the event for which tickets are being sold. Existing law makes it unlawful for a ticket seller to represent that they can deliver or cause to be delivered a ticket at a specific price or within a specific price range and to fail to deliver within a reasonable time or by a contracted time the tickets at or below the price stated or within the range of prices stated. Existing law requires a ticket seller to disclose that a service charge is imposed by the ticket seller and is added to the actual ticket price by the seller in any advertisement or promotion for any event by the ticket seller. Existing law makes a violation of the laws regulating ticket sellers a misdemeanor.
Existing law, with specified exceptions, makes unlawful advertising, displaying, or offering a price for a good or service that does not include all mandatory fees or charges other than taxes or fees imposed by a government on the transaction, as specified.
This bill, except as specified, would prohibit a ticket seller, as defined, from selling a ticket for more than the equivalent of the original price for the ticket if it has been acquired directly from the primary contractor plus 10%. The bill would also prohibit a ticket seller from advertising, displaying, or offering a price for a ticket that does not include all mandatory fees or and charges and would require a ticket seller to disclose the original price of the ticket to the consumer. Because the bill would create new crimes, it would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make a ticket seller that violates these provisions subject to specified civil penalties and would authorize the Attorney General, or a district attorney, county counsel, or city attorney to assess and recover those penalties in a civil action. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Statutes affected:
AB 1720: 22501 BPC
02/05/26 - Introduced: 22501 BPC
03/19/26 - Amended Assembly: 22501 BPC