The Fix the Tix Coalition Is Pushing Congress to Rewrite the Rules of Ticket Sales, and Independent Venues Have the Most to Win or Lose
A national coalition of more than 30 live music and event industry organizations — led by the National Independent Venue Association and including independent venues, promoters, artists, and ticketing companies — sent a letter to Senate Commerce leaders demanding that the TICKET Act include a complete ban on speculative ticketing, a cap on resale prices at original face value, and full price transparency from the first click to checkout. The stakes for independent venues could not be higher.
The Fix the Tix Coalition, a national advocacy alliance spearheaded by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and Eventbrite, has formally urged the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation to strengthen the House TICKET Act with three critical reforms before it moves to a floor vote. The letter, sent to committee leadership in early March, argues that without these changes, the legislation will leave the structural problems in the ticketing marketplace largely intact (NIVA published the full coalition statement).
The coalition's three demands are specific and significant. First, full end-to-end price transparency — meaning that the total price of a ticket, including all fees, must be disclosed from the moment a fan first selects a ticket, not just at checkout. Second, a complete ban on speculative ticketing — the practice of listing tickets for sale before the seller actually possesses them, which artificially inflates secondary market inventory and drives up prices. Third, a prohibition on resale above the original total cost of the ticket, with resale platform fees capped at no more than 10% of the original total price (Digital Music News reported on the coalition's Senate letter).
For independent venues, the TICKET Act's final form will directly shape the economic viability of live music at the grassroots level. The question is whether Congress will listen to the venues and artists who operate at the heart of the live music ecosystem, or whether the bill will be shaped primarily by the interests of the platforms and resellers who profit from the system's current dysfunction.
Why Independent Venues Are Disproportionately Affected by Ticketing Market Failures
The ticketing system's structural problems hit independent venues harder than any other segment of the live music industry. Large arena operators and major promoters have leverage to negotiate favorable ticketing contracts, platform fees, and revenue-sharing arrangements. Independent venues — typically operating with capacity under 1,500, running on thin margins, and staffed by small teams — do not.
When a speculative ticket seller lists tickets to a show at an independent venue before those tickets even exist, the venue and the artist see zero additional revenue from the inflated resale price. When hidden fees are layered onto ticket purchases and only revealed at checkout, fans blame the venue rather than the ticketing platform. When resale prices spike to multiples of face value, the economic benefit flows entirely to secondary market intermediaries while the venue and artist receive only their original face-value revenue.
The Fix the Tix coalition represents more than 30 organizations across the live music and events industry, including NIVA (which represents more than 3,300 independent venues and promoters nationwide), Eventbrite, the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO), and representatives from the performing arts, artist management, and independent ticketing company sectors (The Ticketing Business reported on the coalition's composition and demands).
The Three Reforms and What They Would Change in Practice
Full Price Transparency from First Click: Under the current system, many ticketing platforms show a base ticket price when a fan first browses, then add service fees, facility charges, and processing fees incrementally during the checkout process. By the time a fan reaches the final purchase screen, the total cost can be 30 to 50 percent higher than the initially displayed price. The Fix the Tix coalition's demand for end-to-end transparency would require every fee to be disclosed the moment a ticket is selected, giving fans accurate price information before they invest time in the checkout process.
For independent venues that use transparent pricing as a competitive advantage — and many do — this reform would level the playing field by forcing all ticketing platforms to meet the same disclosure standard.
Complete Ban on Speculative Ticketing: Speculative ticketing occurs when resellers list tickets for sale that they do not actually possess, betting that they can acquire the tickets before the event at a lower price than what they charged the buyer. This practice inflates the apparent supply of tickets on secondary platforms, confuses fans about ticket availability, and drives up prices artificially. A complete prohibition would require that any ticket listed for resale must be a ticket the seller actually holds.
For independent venues hosting shows that sell out quickly, speculative listings on secondary platforms often appear within minutes of an on-sale, creating the false impression that tickets are already sold out at face value when they are actually still available directly from the venue. A ban on speculative ticketing would reduce this deceptive dynamic and channel more purchases through the venue's primary ticketing partner.
Resale Price Cap at Face Value with 10% Fee Limit: This is the most structurally significant of the three demands. Prohibiting resale above the original total cost of the ticket would fundamentally alter the economics of the secondary ticketing market. Currently, tickets to popular shows at independent venues can appear on resale platforms at two to five times face value, with all of that markup going to the reseller and the platform — not the venue or the artist. Capping resale at face value plus a maximum 10% fee would redirect economic value back toward the primary market where venues and artists actually benefit.
The Counterargument: Consumer Advocates Warn About Unintended Consequences
Not everyone in the consumer advocacy community supports the Fix the Tix coalition's reform package. A significant tension exists between the coalition's demands and the concerns of consumer advocates who argue that strict resale restrictions could inadvertently strengthen Ticketmaster's market dominance rather than weakening it (TicketNews reported on the debate).
The argument runs as follows: if resale above face value is prohibited and secondary platform fees are capped, the economic incentive for independent secondary ticketing platforms to operate is significantly reduced. If those platforms exit or scale back, the only remaining option for fans who need to resell or purchase tickets after the initial on-sale is whatever resale mechanism the primary ticketing platform (in many cases, Ticketmaster) offers. In this view, restricting the secondary market does not empower fans — it funnels them back into the primary market monopoly.
Consumer advocates at organizations including the Progressive Policy Institute have argued that the real harm to fans originates in the primary market's control over supply, pricing, and transfer rules, not in the secondary market's existence. Their position is that a healthy, competitive resale market gives fans a safety valve when primary market pricing and allocation fail — and that eliminating that safety valve while Ticketmaster still controls the primary market would make fans worse off, not better.
Independent venues and artists should understand both sides of this debate. The Fix the Tix coalition's reforms would clearly benefit venues by reducing speculative activity and capping markup. But if those same reforms weaken the independent secondary platforms that compete with Ticketmaster's resale infrastructure, the long-term competitive landscape could become even more consolidated.
What Independent Venues and Artists Should Do Now
Independent venue operators should contact their Senate representatives directly and communicate support for the TICKET Act's core transparency provisions while sharing their specific experiences with speculative ticketing and resale markup. NIVA maintains advocacy resources for its members, including template letters and direct contacts for Senate Commerce Committee staff, available through the Fix the Tix campaign page at nivassoc.org/fixthetix.
Independent artists who control their own ticketing — particularly those who use platforms like DICE, Eventbrite, or See Tickets for direct-to-fan sales — should engage with this legislative process because the TICKET Act's final provisions will shape the competitive environment for every ticketing platform they might use. Artists with strong fan relationships who sell directly benefit enormously from transparency requirements and speculative ticket bans, because those reforms reduce the incentive for intermediaries to divert sales away from the artist's preferred channels.
Venue operators should also review their existing ticketing contracts to understand what protections they currently have against unauthorized resale of their inventory. Many ticketing contracts include provisions about data sharing, resale authorization, and fee structures that will interact with whatever federal legislation ultimately passes. Understanding your current contractual landscape is essential preparation for operating under a new regulatory regime.
Key Questions for Independent Venues and Artists
Will the TICKET Act apply to my venue?The TICKET Act as currently drafted would apply to ticketed events of all sizes. Independent venues hosting shows from 100 to 1,500 capacity would be covered by the same transparency, anti-speculation, and resale provisions as arenas and stadiums. The law would regulate ticketing platforms rather than venues directly, meaning that compliance obligations would primarily fall on the ticketing technology companies, not on venue operators.
Would a resale price cap hurt my ability to price tickets dynamically?The proposed cap applies to secondary resale, not primary market pricing. Venues and artists would retain full control over their primary ticket pricing, including variable and dynamic pricing strategies. The cap would only prevent third-party resellers from marking up tickets above what the venue originally charged.
How does this interact with the recent changes in the live entertainment market?The ticketing reform debate is happening simultaneously with significant structural changes in the live entertainment industry. Independent venues should view the TICKET Act as one component of a broader regulatory environment that is actively being reshaped, and should engage with trade organizations like NIVA to stay informed as the legislation evolves.
Today's Indie Radar
New York State has introduced the "Affordable Concerts Act," which would impose resale price caps and strengthen transparency requirements for ticket sales within the state, potentially creating a model for other states to follow. The legislation includes provisions that some consumer advocates have described as containing Ticketmaster-friendly elements alongside meaningful consumer protections, creating a complex regulatory picture for venues operating in New York (TicketNews analyzed the bill's provisions and competing interests). Independent venues in New York should review the proposed legislation carefully and engage with NIVA's advocacy team to understand how state-level ticketing reform might interact with the federal TICKET Act. Venue operators in other states should monitor New York's approach as a potential template for state-level action in their own jurisdictions.
StubHub disclosed a net loss of $1.9 billion for fiscal year 2025 in its first full-year earnings report since completing its IPO, driven primarily by $1.4 billion in one-time stock-based compensation expenses and a $479 million non-cash valuation allowance. Beneath the headline loss, StubHub generated $9.2 billion in gross merchandise sales and $1.7 billion in revenue, with management guiding 2026 gross merchandise sales to $9.9 to $10.1 billion (StubHub's SEC filing detailed the full-year results). For independent venues and artists, StubHub's financial trajectory matters because the company is aggressively expanding its direct issuance partnerships with major sports leagues and entertainment properties. If StubHub increasingly integrates with primary ticket sales, independent venues could face additional competitive pressure from a platform whose core business model depends on resale volume and markup — exactly the dynamics that the TICKET Act is designed to address.
The live music industry is facing a workforce crisis as the technical infrastructure that makes concerts possible — skilled audio engineers, lighting programmers, stage technicians, and production specialists — struggles to replace an aging labor pool. Bloomberg reported that the shortage is becoming acute as touring revenues have become one of the music industry's most important revenue engines, with demand for skilled live event workers far outpacing the training pipeline (Bloomberg reported on the workforce shortage). Independent venues are disproportionately affected because they cannot compete with major touring companies on wages and often serve as the training ground where new technical workers get their first experience. Venue operators should consider formalizing apprenticeship and internship programs to build their own technical talent pipelines, and should advocate for industry-wide workforce development initiatives through organizations like NIVA.