California's Anti-Scalping Bill Gets Watered Down — Venue Owners Pissed
NIVA is calling foul on amendments to California's ticketing reform bill that let resellers slip through the cracks.
California's AB 1349 was supposed to be a real one — a bill that would stop the scalper playbook of listing tickets they don't even own yet on resale platforms. That's the whole speculative ticketing hustle that's been making fans lose sleep (and money) for years.
But here's where it gets messy. The National Independent Venue Association came out swinging against amendments to the bill, basically saying the new version got gutted. When your venue organizations are mad, you know something got compromised that wasn't supposed to.
The core issue? Secondary market platforms have gotten slicker at creating artificial scarcity and jacking up prices before real fans even get a shot. AB 1349 was meant to kill that game. Now, with these amendments in play, NIVA's saying the protections got weakened enough that scalpers still got runway.
This is the kind of legislative chess where money talks loud — and it sounds like the resale industry's got lawyers on speed dial. The venue owners wanted teeth. They might've gotten a gum disease warning instead.
Read the full story at Music Ally → https://musically.com/2026/09/02/niva-slams-amendments-to-californias-ab-1349-ticketing-bill/
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