Consumer Protection
Ticket sellers would have to show held-back seats
In New Jersey, Assemblyman Kenyatta Stewart and Assemblywoman Katie Brennan’s bill would also require advance disclosure of public allotments and presales for fan clubs, credit cards, sponsors, artists and VIPs.
A New Jersey bill would give fans a clearer view of concert inventory before tickets go on sale. Sellers would have to disclose public allotments, held-back seats and presales, and they could not call a show sold out while more tickets are still being reserved or set aside.
- Ticket sellers would have to publish how many seats are going to the general public before a sale starts.
- Held-back, reserved and set-aside tickets would have to be disclosed.
- Presales for fan clubs, credit cards, sponsors, artists and VIPs would have to be listed.
- Sellers could not call an event sold out if more inventory is still being saved for later release.
- The bill is aimed at making New Jersey ticket sales easier for fans to understand.
New Jersey concertgoers could get a clearer picture of what they are really buying into before tickets go live. A proposal from Assemblyman Kenyatta Stewart and Assemblywoman Katie Brennan would require ticket issuers to disclose how many tickets will be offered to the general public at least seven days before a sale.
If more tickets are released later, the issuer would have to update the count. The bill would also require sellers to disclose tickets that are held back, reserved or set aside by or for an organizer, sponsor or performer.
When a show can be called sold out
The bill would also put limits on the way events are marketed. A ticket issuer could not advertise a show as sold out if additional tickets are still reserved, held back or scheduled for a later release.
There is one narrow exception. An event could still be called sold out if the remaining tickets are going to a nonprofit group or a school, or if they are being saved for a charitable auction.
Presales would be spelled out
The proposal would also force more disclosure around presales. Ticket issuers would have to list presales and the number of tickets allocated to each, including fan clubs, credit cards, sponsors, artists and VIPs.
For buyers, that matters because a sale can feel like it disappears almost instantly when a large share of inventory is already spoken for. The bill would not create more tickets, but it would make clear how many were actually available to the public and how many were set aside in advance.
Why fans care
The basic goal is transparency. The bill would make the ticket market less opaque by showing what is open to the general public and what is being managed behind the scenes for later release or special access.
For fans, that could mean fewer surprises at checkout and less guesswork about whether a sale was ever truly open to everyone on the same terms.