SENATE DOCKET, NO. 999        FILED ON: 1/17/2013

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 94

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

James B. Eldridge

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act reforming the issuance and sale of sports and entertainment tickets.

_______________

PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 999        FILED ON: 1/17/2013

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 94

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

In the Year Two Thousand Thirteen

_______________

An Act reforming the issuance and sale of sports and entertainment tickets.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Notwithstanding Sections 185A through 185G, inclusive, of chapter 140 of the General Laws, or any other General or Special Law to the Contrary, the General Laws shall be amended by inserting the following:-

Section 1.  A ticket is a license, issued by the operator of a place of entertainment, for admission to the place of entertainment at the date and time specified on the ticket, subject to the terms and conditions as specified by the operator. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, it shall be prohibited for any operator of a place of entertainment, or operator's agent, to:

    (a) restrict by any means the resale of any tickets included in a subscription or season ticket package as a condition of purchase, as a condition to retain such tickets for the duration of the subscription or season ticket package agreement, or as a condition to retain any contractually agreed upon rights to purchase future subscription or season ticket packages that are otherwise conferred in the subscription or season ticket agreement;

    (b) deny access to a ticket holder who possesses a resold subscription or season ticket to a performance based solely on the grounds that such ticket has been resold; or

    (c) employ a paperless ticketing system unless the consumer is given an option to purchase paperless tickets that the consumer can transfer at any price, and at any time, and without additional fees, independent of the operator or operator's agent.

SECTION 2. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an operator or operator's agent may employ a paperless ticketing system that does not allow for independent transferability of paperless tickets only if the consumer is offered an option at the time of initial sale to purchase the same tickets in some other form that is transferrable independent of the operator or operator's agent including, but not limited to, paper tickets or e-tickets. Said option shall not be limit the purchaser to retrieving the tickets at the venue unless the purchaser agrees. The established price for any given ticket shall be the same regardless of the form or transferability of such ticket. The ability for a ticket to be transferred independent of the operator or operator's agent shall not constitute a special service for the purpose of imposing a service charge.