People buying tickets online for concerts, sporting events and other live events in Minnesota will be guaranteed greater transparency and protections under the so-called Taylor Swift bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Tim Walz.
Law, prompted by lawmakers’ frustration over the inability to buy tickets to Swift’s 2023 Minneapolis concert, it would require ticket sellers to disclose all fees in advance and prohibit resellers from selling more than one copy of a ticket, among other measures. The law would apply to tickets purchased in Minnesota or other states for concerts or other events held in Minnesota.
Walz signed “House File 1989” — a reference to Swift’s birth year and the album of that name — at First Avenue, a popular concert venue in downtown Minneapolis.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that we would be attending the signing of House Bill 1989 on First Avenue,” said Democratic Rep. Kelly Moller, the bill’s lead sponsor.
Moller was among thousands of people stuck in ticketing company Ticketmaster’s system after it collapsed in 2022 amid huge demand for Swift concert tickets and attacks from bots trying to buy tickets to resell at inflated prices. Situation led to congressional hearings But no federal legislation.
Supporters of Minnesota’s new law say the state joins Maryland as one of the few states to make ticket buyer protections law.
Ticketmaster did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new Minnesota law. Taylor Swift’s media team also did not respond.
Jessica Roy, a spokeswoman for StubHub, said in an email: “StubHub has long advocated for legislation that protects fans from anti-competitive and anti-consumer practices in the ticket purchasing process. We share the goals of HF1989 and look forward to continuing discussions with policymakers to advance policies that provide greater transparency, greater control and greater choice for ticket buyers.”
Walz, a Democrat, said the new law will “protect you from getting bad tickets, counterfeit tickets, and dealers not being able to snatch them all up before you have a chance.”
Two young girls — one wearing a shirt that said “A LOT Happening at the moment” in homage to Swift, and the other wearing a shirt that said “IOWA 22” in reference to basketball star Caitlin Clark — attended the bill signing with their dad, 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 see Caitlin Clark.’ As a father, I just couldn’t resist. So I went online to buy tickets.”
According to Dean, the tickets were supposed to cost $300 but ended up costing $500 due to hidden fees. The timer started during the online checkout process, so he only had a few minutes to decide whether to buy tickets or lose them.
He finally bought the tickets. But Dean said the practice meant customers couldn’t make informed decisions. The new law, he said, will bring transparency to this process.
The law takes effect on January 1, 2025 and applies to tickets sold on or after that date.
Adrianna Korich, director of ticket sales at First Avenue, said she supports the new rules, saying fans are sometimes tricked into paying up to 10 times the face value of a ticket by deceptive websites and resellers who list tickets without having them. In fact. According to her, the new law prohibits both.
“We’ve all heard the horror stories from the Taylor Swift Eras tour and seen the astronomical prices that are charged at checkout,” Korich said.