Washington, D.C.
President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order today aimed at eliminating exploitative ticket scalping practices and increasing price transparency in America’s live entertainment industry.
“For too long, hard-working Americans have been priced out of seeing their favorite artists and teams because of unfair middlemen and ticket scalpers,” said President Trump. “Today, we’re putting an end to the price-gouging and bringing fairness back to fans.”
Cracking Down on Unfair Ticketing Practices
The Executive Order directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to:
• Work with the Attorney General to enforce competition laws in the concert and entertainment industry.
• Strictly enforce the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, ensuring state consumer protection authorities also take action.
• Mandate full price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process.
• Investigate and take enforcement action against deceptive and anti-competitive practices in the secondary ticket market.
The Secretary of the Treasury and Attorney General will also ensure ticket scalpers are complying with tax and business regulations. Additionally, federal agencies will submit a report within 180 days summarizing their actions and proposing further regulations or legislation to protect consumers.
Restoring Fairness to the Entertainment Industry
The live concert and entertainment industry supports 913,000 jobs and contributes $132.6 billion to the U.S. economy. However, aggressive ticket scalping has resulted in excessive markups that leave fans paying up to 70 times the face value of tickets—without any of that money benefiting artists.
Despite the BOTS Act being in place for over eight years, the FTC has only enforced it once. Today’s action ensures that this law is properly implemented to prevent scalpers from using automated systems to hoard tickets.
Putting Consumers First
This move is part of President Trump’s broader commitment to lowering costs for American families. Since returning to office, he has:
• Ended New York City’s congestion pricing scheme, which disproportionately affected workers and small businesses.
• Signed an Executive Order for transparent healthcare pricing, empowering patients with clear cost information.
• Directed his administration to combat the cost-of-living crisis, making affordability a priority across all sectors.
“This is a win for fans, a win for artists, and a win for fairness,” President Trump declared. “We’re going to make sure Americans get to enjoy entertainment without getting ripped off.”
