SEN. Mark Villar has renewed his call for the immediate passage of Senate Bill (SB) 1989, or the proposed Anti-Ticket Scalping Act.
The legislation aims to protect consumers from exploitative ticket resale practices and ensure fair access to concerts, sporting events, and other public entertainment activities.
Villar said ticket scalping has generated increasing complaints from consumers who are unable to purchase tickets at their original prices due to hoarding and unauthorized resale.
He first introduced the bill during the 19th Congress as SB 8273. He refiled the measure in the 20th Congress as SB 1630. The proposal was later consolidated with similar bills and substituted under Committee Report 51 as SB 1989, which has already been sponsored on the Senate floor.
“Many of our countrymen have experienced running out of tickets because they are being bought in large numbers and resold at very high prices. This is not right. This is an exploitative practice that puts consumers at risk and must be addressed through the law,” Villar said.
Under the measure, ticket scalping would be prohibited, including the unauthorized resale or distribution of admission tickets at a price exceeding 10 percent of the ticket’s face value. The bill also targets practices that undermine the integrity of ticketing systems, such as the use of automated software or bots, fake accounts, false identities, and other deceptive methods employed to bypass ticket purchase limits.
The legislation requires event organizers, ticketing companies, and other stakeholders to implement safeguards against ticket hoarding and fraudulent resale activities. These measures are intended to ensure that tickets remain accessible to genuine consumers rather than opportunistic resellers.
To strengthen enforcement, SB 1989 imposes penalties on individuals found guilty of ticket scalping and related offenses. Unauthorized ticket resale, fraudulent acquisition of tickets, and similar prohibited acts may be punishable by fines and imprisonment. The bill likewise provides sanctions against individuals who use bots and other automated technologies to manipulate ticket sales and evade ticketing controls.
