The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced a new ban on hidden fees for concert tickets in the US.
Yesterday (December 17), the FTC finalized a new rule originally outlined in October 2023 to put a stop to "junk fees" across multiple industries, including online sales for live event tickets and short-term lodging. Ticketing platforms will now be forced to display all mandatory fees upfront during the buying process instead of tacking them on during the checkout stage.
"People deserve to know up-front what they're being asked to pay — without worrying that they'll later be saddled with mysterious fees that they haven't budgeted for and can't avoid," FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement. "The FTC's rule will put an end to junk fees around live event tickets, hotels, and vacation rentals, saving Americans billions of dollars and millions of hours in wasted time. I urge enforcers to continue cracking down on these unlawful fees and encourage state and federal policymakers to build on this success with legislation that bans unfair and deceptive junk fees across the economy."
The FTC estimates that the Junk Fees Rule will save consumers up to 53 million hours annually of time wasted searching for the total price of tickets — time amounting to an estimated $11 billion USD over the next decade.
Of course, the rule notably won't go into effect until well into the next term, so the incoming administration could most definitely scrap it. It's also worth noting that Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation responded to complaints about price transparency by implementing an all-in pricing model in September 2023, resulting in a reported eight percent sales increase between then and May 2024 [via NME].
Earlier this year, the US Department of Justice called for the breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, accusing the conglomerate of "maintain[ing] a monopoly" on the live entertainment industry after the Senate subpoenaed the parent company for documents pertaining to pricing and service fees. Here in Canada, Cineplex recently announced that it would make online ticket fees more obvious for moviegoers amid appealing a $38.9 million CAD fine for deceptive marketing practices.