Taylor Swift bill is signed into Minnesota law, boosting protections for online ticket buyers
MINNEAPOLIS– People who buy tickets online for concerts, sporting events and other live events in Minnesota will be guaranteed more transparency and protections under a so-called Taylor Swift bill signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday.
The law, prompted by the frustration a lawmaker felt at being unable to purchase tickets for Swift’s 2023 concert in Minneapolis, will, among other things, require ticket sellers to disclose all fees in advance and prohibit resellers from purchasing more than one copy of a ticket to sell. . The law applies to tickets purchased in Minnesota or other states for concerts or other live events in Minnesota.
Walz signed House File 1989 — a reference to Swift’s birth year and an album of that title — at First Avenue, a popular concert venue in downtown Minneapolis.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would be signing a House File 1989 bill on First Avenue,” said Democratic Rep. Kelly Moller, lead author of the bill.
Moller was one of thousands of people who became trapped in ticketing company Ticketmaster’s system after it crashed in 2022 due to soaring demand for Swift concert tickets and attacks from bots, which tried to buy tickets to resell at high prices. The situation led to hearings in Congress, but no federal legislation.
Supporters of Minnesota’s new law say the state joins Maryland as one of the few states to enact ticket buyer protections into law.
Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Minnesota’s new law. Taylor Swift’s media team also did not respond.
Jessica Roey, a spokesperson for StubHub, said in an email: “StubHub has long advocated for legislation that protects fans from anti-competitive and anti-consumer ticket purchasing practices. We share the objectives of HF1989 and look forward to continued discussions with policymakers to advance policies that provide more transparency, more control and more choice for ticket buyers.”
Walz, a Democrat, said the new law is “protection so that you don’t get a bad ticket or a fraudulent ticket, and that resellers can’t take them all before you get a chance.”
Two young girls – one wearing a shirt that read “LOTS going on right now” in a nod to Swift, and another wearing a shirt that read “Iowa 22” in reference to basketball star Caitlin Clark – attended the bill signing attended with their father, Mike Dean, who testified in support of the bill this year.
Dean said his daughter “came to me in December and said, ‘Dad, I want to go to Caitlin Clark.’ As a father, I just couldn’t resist. And so I went online to buy tickets.”
The tickets were supposed to cost a total of $300, Dean said, but ended up costing more than $500 because of hidden fees. The timer had started during the online payment process, so he had only a few minutes to decide whether to buy or lose the tickets.
He ended up buying the tickets. But Dean said these practices prevent customers from making informed decisions. The new law, he said, will bring transparency to the process.
The law comes into effect on January 1, 2025 and applies to tickets sold on or after that date.
Adrianna Korich, director of ticketing at First Avenue, said she supports the new rules. Fans are sometimes tricked into paying up to ten times the face value of a ticket due to deceptive websites and resellers who offer tickets without actually owning them. The new law bans both, she said.
“We’ve all heard the horror stories of the Taylor Swift Eras tour and seen the astronomical prices charged at checkout,” Korich said.
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Trisha Ahmed is a staff member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15