Ticket-selling enters its regulation era as Gov. Tim Walz signs fee transparency into law

Ticket sellers, including live events behemoth Ticketmaster, will have to tell Minnesota consumers the total price of admission for concerts, sporting events and more upfront starting next year.

That’s due to a bill Gov. Tim Walz signed into law Tuesday that will also regulate the so-called “speculative market,” a practice in which third-party sellers advertise tickets to events even though they haven’t yet bought the seats themselves.

“This is about fairness in the way we go about ticketing,” Walz said during a signing ceremony at First Avenue. “It’s truth in advertising. It’s truth in ticketing.”

The bill also requires resellers to tell ticket-buyers exactly where they’ll be sitting if the event or venue has assigned seating, and it mandates that resellers obtain permission from the venue before opening a secondhand marketplace.

Walz touted the entertainment industry as integral to the Minnesotan way of life just before he signed the bill.

“It’s critically part of our economy but it’s also part of our identity,” he said.

Mike Dean of St. Anthony, who testified in support of the bill as it wound through legislative committees, attended Tuesday’s signing and recalled the sticker shock he felt when purchasing tickets to the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament late last year.

His daughters, Caroline and Brigit, are Caitlin Clark fans, Dean said, and he was surprised to find seats for $75 a pop. He mused that the girls could invite a couple of their friends along at that price.

But the final price at checkout, after fees, was $500.

“As a father, I just couldn’t resist,” Dean said. “We’re stuck with no choice at the end. Consumers can’t make decisions at all.”

Rep. Kelly Moller, DFL-Shoreview, felt similarly when she tried to buy tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour last summer. That’s why she co-sponsored the legislation with Sen. Matt Klein, DFL-Mendota Heights. The bill number in the House shares the same title as Swift’s fifth studio album “1989.”

Klein said Moller’s experience served as the “genesis of the idea” behind the legislation.

“Minnesotans deserve a better experience than that,” he said.

Moller gave a nod to U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who lent Minnesota lawmakers her expertise having crafting similar legislation at the national level. She and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, introduced the Fans First Act in December.

“Buying a ticket to see your favorite artist in concert is like going through a gauntlet for too many Americans, and it’s hurting both fans and artists,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “With this legislation, Minnesota is leading the country in improving the ticketing experience but more must be done at the federal level to strengthen these protections.”

Adrianna Korich, director of ticketing at First Avenue, said the legislation would help tamp down on price gouging and give consumers better transparency over the price they’ll pay to attend events at the venue.

She also said that concertgoers may notice what they perceive as an increase in ticket prices when the law goes into effect on Jan. 1. But that’s because ticket-sellers will now include all of the fees in the price of the ticket upfront.

“Fans are sick of seeing tickets at one price and seeing another at checkout,” she said.