Amendment ID: S2856-106

Amendment 106

Ticket Transferability

Messrs. Cronin, Oliveira and O'Connor move that the proposed new text be amended by adding the following section:-

SECTION 126. Chapter 140 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 182A and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 182A. (a) Every ticket of admission or other evidence of right of entry to any theatrical exhibition, public show or public amusement or exhibition required to be licensed by sections 181 and 182, for admission to which a price is charged, shall bear on its face the price charged for such ticket or other evidence of right of entry by the person issuing the same or causing the same to be issued. Whoever issues or causes to be issued such a ticket or other evidence of right of entry in violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500.

(b)(1) No person, firm, corporation or other entity shall employ a paperless ticketing system unless the consumer is given an option at the time of initial sale to purchase the same paperless tickets in transferable form that the consumer can transfer at any price, and at any time, and without additional fees, independently of the ticketing system that originally issued the ticket.

(2) The established price for any given ticket shall be the same regardless of the form or transferability of such ticket.

(3) It shall be unlawful to penalize, discriminate against or deny access to a ticket buyer on the basis that the ticket was transferred or resold, including if the ticket was transferred or resold independent from the initial sale ticketing system.

(c) Notwithstanding subsection (b), an operator of any such theatrical exhibition, public show or public amusement or exhibition, or such operator’s agent, may offer paperless tickets that do not allow for transferability; provided, that: (i) those tickets shall be sold or given to individuals or groups as part of a private event or a targeted promotion at a discounted price offered because of the individual’s or group’s status or affiliation with religious or charitable institutions, societies or organizations or civic leagues or organizations not organized for profit but operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare, associations of veterans of any wars of the United States, students, or groups or individuals characterized by a disability or economic hardship and tickets issued through a non-transferable ticketing system pursuant to the exemption in this subsection shall not be offered promotionally to the general public and shall be clearly marked as a ticket restricted to the specified individual or group; or (ii) such tickets shall be included in a membership pass at a discounted price offered by a professional sports organization for seating in venues or stadiums with a fixed capacity of not less than 19,000 seats that guarantees entry to a specified number of events in a specified time period with seat assignments: (A) assigned not more than 4 hours prior to the commencement of the event; and (B) variable from game to game and not intended for season ticket holders. Tickets provided under a membership pass may be restricted from being transferred or resold, including through the operator or operator’s agents, and shall be clearly marked as such prior to initial offering or sale. Such membership pass shall not mean a subscription or season ticket package offered for sale and shall not result in the sale of more than 5 per cent of the maximum amount of all seats that will be made available at a venue for a particular event to be sold under this subsection.

(d) Venue operators, or operators’ agents, may maintain and enforce policies and conditions or requirements for ticket purchase with respect to conduct, behavior, public health and safety or age at the venue or event and may establish limits on the quantity of tickets that may be purchased.

(e) The commissioner of the division of occupational licensure may undertake functionality testing, audits and other measures to ensure that a paperless ticketing system used for entry access to theatrical exhibitions, public shows or public amusements or exhibitions meets reasonable standards of reliability for providing entry to persons with verified authentic paperless tickets.