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GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 598
Short Title: Live Event Ticketing Protections & Reforms. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Willis, Johnson, McNeely, and Schietzelt (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
April 1, 2025
*H598-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO CREATE CON SUMER PROTECTIONS FO R SECONDARY TICKET 2
PURCHASERS AND TO PR OHIBIT SECONDARY TIC KET SELLERS FROM USI NG 3
THE NAME OF A VENUE OR EVENT IN THEIR WEBSITE ADDRESS. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
SECTION 1.(a) Chapter 75 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new 6
Article to read: 7
"Article 9. 8
"Live Event Ticket Sales and Resales." 9
SECTION 1.(b) Subsections (a) and (c) of G.S. 75-44 are recodified as subsections 10
(a) and (b), respectively, of G.S. 75-151, to be titled "Definitions; enforcement," to be located in 11
Article 9 of Chapter 75 of the General Statutes, as established by subsection (a) of this section. 12
SECTION 1.(c) Subsection (b) of G.S. 75-44 is recodified as G.S. 75-152, to be 13
titled "Ticket price transparency," to be located in Article 9 of Chapter 75 of the General Statutes, 14
as established by subsection (a) of this section. 15
SECTION 1.(d) Article 9 of Chapter 75 of the General Statutes, as established by 16
subsection (a) of this section, reads as rewritten: 17
"Article 9. 18
"Live Event Ticket Sales and Resales. 19
"§ 75-151. Definitions; enforcement. 20
(a) As used in this section Article, the following definitions apply: 21
(1) Entertainment event. – A sporting game or contest, concert, or other 22
entertainment performance with a live presentation element in this State for 23
which attendance is available to the public through the purchase of ticket. 24
(2) Mandatory fee. – Any fee or surcharge that a consumer must pay in order to 25
purchase a ticket to an entertainment event. 26
(3) Resale. – The second or subsequent sale of a ticket through a website or other 27
electronic means. 28
(4) Reseller. – A person engaged in the resale of tickets. 29
(5) Secondary ticket exchange. – An electronic marketplace that enables persons 30
to sell, purchase, and resell tickets. 31
(6) Ticket issuer. – The person that is the first seller of tickets for an entertainment 32
event, including a musician or musical group, an operator of a venue, sponsor 33
or a promoter of an entertainment event, a sports te am participating in an 34
entertainment event, a sports league whose teams are participating in an 35
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 598-First Edition
entertainment event, a theater company, a marketplace or service operated for 1
consumers to make an initial purchase of tickets, or an agent of any of the 2
persons listed in this subdivision. 3
(7) Ticketing session. – The period of time beginning when the price of a ticket 4
to an entertainment event is first displayed to a person through a website or 5
application and ending when the person has not purchased the ticket within 6
the time period prescribed by the secondary ticket exchange, ticket issuer, or 7
reseller. 8
(b) A violation of this section Article is an unfair trade practice under G.S. 75-1.1 and is 9
subject to all of the investigative, enforcement, and penalty provisions of an unfair trade practice 10
under this Article.Chapter. 11
"§ 75-152. Ticket price transparency. 12
A secondary ticket exchange, ticket issuer, or reseller shall meet the follow ing requirements 13
when listing a ticket for sale or resale: 14
(1) At any time the price of the ticket is displayed to the purchaser, the listing 15
shall clearly and conspicuously disclose the total price of the ticket, including 16
all mandatory fees and the maximum order processing fee, if any. 17
(2) The total price of the ticket initially displayed at the beginning of a ticketing 18
session shall not be increased during that ticketing session, except by the 19
addition of the charges permitted under subdivision (4) of this subsection. 20
(3) The listing shall clearly and conspicuously disclose to the consumer the 21
existence and actual dollar amount of each mandatory fee, if any, prior to the 22
completion of the transaction. The descriptor used to identify each mandatory 23
fee shall not be deceptive or misleading. 24
(4) The following charges are not mandatory fees and may be added to the ticket 25
price and shall be disclosed to the purchaser prior to purchase of the ticket: 26
a. Actual charges required to deliver a non -electronic ti cket to the 27
address specified by the purchaser by the delivery method designated 28
by the purchaser. 29
b. Taxes or fees imposed on the transaction by any government. 30
c. A reasonable fee for processing the order. 31
"§ 75-153. Restrictions for ticket issuers. 32
(a) A ticket issuer shall not restrict or hinder the ability of a purchaser that has purchased 33
a ticket from a ticket issuer from doing any of the following: 34
(1) Reselling a ticket independently of the primary ticket seller or any secondary 35
ticket exchange owned or affiliated with the ticket issuer. 36
(2) Reselling a ticket on the secondary ticket exchange of the purchaser 's 37
choosing. 38
(b) A ticket issuer may not require a minimum or maximum price for the resale of a ticket 39
purchased from the issuer. 40
(c) A ticket issuer may not sanction, discriminate against, or deny a purchaser admission 41
to an event, deny rights to bundled series tickets or the renewal thereof, or otherwise discriminate 42
against a secondary ticket exchange seller or purchaser on the basis that the ticket was resold, 43
gifted, or purchased as a resold ticket. 44
(d) A ticket issuer shall deliver an electronic ticket to a purchaser within 72 hours of 45
confirming the purchase order, unless the event occurs within 72 hours of the purchase, in which 46
case a ticket issuer shall deliver the ticket as soon as reasonably possible following purchase 47
order confirmation. 48
(e) Nothing in this section prohibits an operator of a live entertainment venue from doing 49
any of the following: 50
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
House Bill 598-First Edition Page 3
(1) Maintaining and enforcing poli cies regarding conduct or behavior at or in 1
connection with the operator's live entertainment venue. 2
(2) Establishing limits on the quantity of tickets that may be purchased. 3
(3) Selling or gifting nontransferable tickets to an event for either of the following 4
reasons: 5
a. The event is a private event. 6
b. The ticket is offered at a discounted price to only a select group of 7
people, including students, veterans, or members of an organization. 8
Nontransferable tickets issued under this sub-subdivision shall be 9
clearly marked as nontransferable and shall not be offered 10
promotionally to the general public. 11
"§ 75-154. Secondary ticket exchange website addresses. 12
A secondary ticket exchange shall not use a website address that contains the name of or a 13
name substantially similar to the name of the event, a performer at the event, or the venue to 14
which the ticket is for." 15
SECTION 2. This act becomes effective October 1, 2025. 16