When Consumer Advocates, Anti-Fraud Experts, and Fan Groups Agree: Price Caps Are the Wrong Play in Live Event Ticketing
In the contentious world of live event ticketing, it’s rare to see such a broad coalition in agreement. Yet, the National Consumers League (NCL), We Fight Fraud (WFF), and Sports Fans Coalition (SFC)—representing consumer advocates, anti-fraud specialists, and passionate fans—are united on one key point: resale price caps are the wrong policy.
Their submissions to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) offer compelling evidence that price caps not only fail to protect consumers, they can actually make things worse.
Why Price Caps Backfire
We Fight Fraud’s research is perhaps the most damning: in countries where resale above face value is banned, fraud rates are three to four times higher. In Ireland, for example, 13.6% of fans reported being defrauded under a resale ban, compared to just 3.8% in the UK’s regulated but uncapped market. Price caps make scams harder to spot because fake listings can mimic the “expected” capped price, tricking buyers into a false sense of security.
With legal resale options restricted, fans are pushed into unregulated channels like Facebook and Instagram, where WFF found three out of four tickets sold were fraudulent.
Sports Fans Coalition points to Ireland’s ban as a cautionary tale. Trusted secondary marketplaces have largely withdrawn, leaving fans with fewer options, longer queues, and more frustration. Without multiple competitive outlets, fans are trapped in a monopoly-controlled system—often the very one causing the original problems.
National Consumer League echoes these concerns, warning that simplistic solutions like price caps do nothing to address the structural causes of high prices, hidden fees, and lack of transparency.
Progressive Policy Institute reinforces these findings, warning that price caps reduce transparency, push fans toward unregulated sellers, and make fraud easier. Instead of making tickets affordable, caps shrink the safe marketplace.
The Shared Vision: Pro-Consumer, Pro-Competition Reform
While they agree on what not to do, these organizations also align on smarter, evidence-based reforms:
From the National Consumers League:
Enforce and expand the BOTS Act to crack down on illegal bot purchases.
Support the DOJ’s antitrust case against Live Nation-Ticketmaster, including considering structural remedies like breaking up its vertically integrated businesses.
From We Fight Fraud:
Implement interoperability between ticketing platforms via secure APIs, modeled on open banking, to allow real-time verification of ticket authenticity, detect illegal bot activity, and ensure transparent pricing.
Recognize that interoperability is not just about fraud prevention—it’s also a matter of public safety, enabling venues and law enforcement to know who is in attendance in case of emergencies.
From Sports Fans Coalition:
Protect the right to ticket transferability nationwide, enabling fans to freely resell or gift tickets, which SFC data shows has saved fans over $475 million since 2017.
Ban exclusive contracts that tie venues to a single ticketing provider, fostering competition and lowering prices.
Strengthen BOTS Act enforcement by requiring mandatory reporting from primary ticketing companies.
A Smarter Path Forward
The combined message from these three groups is clear: price caps may sound like consumer protection, but in reality, they shrink the market, embolden fraudsters, and entrench monopolies. Real reform means:
Opening up competition through interoperability and transferability.
Enforcing transparency in fees and ticket availability.
Strengthening anti-bot enforcement.
Breaking the monopoly grip on ticketing and resale.
When consumer advocates, anti-fraud experts, and fan groups all tell policymakers the same thing, it’s worth listening. The path forward isn’t about capping prices—it’s about unleashing transparency, competition, and choice so fans can safely get to the events they love, without getting ripped off.