AN ACT to create consumer protections for secondary ticket purchasers and to prohibit secondary ticket sellers from using the name of a venue or event in their website address.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  Chapter 75 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new Article to read:

Article 9.

Live Event Ticket Sales and Resales.

SECTION 1.(b)  Subsections (a) and (c) of G.S. 75‑44 are recodified as subsections (a) and (b), respectively, of G.S. 75‑151, to be titled Definitions; enforcement, to be located in Article 9 of Chapter 75 of the General Statutes, as established by subsection (a) of this section.

SECTION 1.(c)  Subsection (b) of G.S. 75‑44 is recodified as G.S. 75‑152, to be titled Ticket price transparency, to be located in Article 9 of Chapter 75 of the General Statutes, as established by subsection (a) of this section.

SECTION 1.(d)  Article 9 of Chapter 75 of the General Statutes, as established by subsection (a) of this section, reads as rewritten:

Article 9.

Live Event Ticket Sales and Resales.

§ 75‑151.  Definitions; enforcement.

(a)        As used in this section Article, the following definitions apply:

(1)        Entertainment event. – A sporting game or contest, concert, or other entertainment performance with a live presentation element in this State for which attendance is available to the public through the purchase of ticket.

(2)        Mandatory fee. – Any fee or surcharge that a consumer must pay in order to purchase a ticket to an entertainment event.

(3)        Resale. – The second or subsequent sale of a ticket through a website or other electronic means.

(4)        Reseller. – A person engaged in the resale of tickets.

(5)        Secondary ticket exchange. – An electronic marketplace that enables persons to sell, purchase, and resell tickets.

(6)        Ticket issuer. – The person that is the first seller of tickets for an entertainment event, including a musician or musical group, an operator of a venue, sponsor or a promoter of an entertainment event, a sports team participating in an entertainment event, a sports league whose teams are participating in an entertainment event, a theater company, a marketplace or service operated for consumers to make an initial purchase of tickets, or an agent of any of the persons listed in this subdivision.

(7)        Ticketing session. – The period of time beginning when the price of a ticket to an entertainment event is first displayed to a person through a website or application and ending when the person has not purchased the ticket within the time period prescribed by the secondary ticket exchange, ticket issuer, or reseller.

(b)        A violation of this section Article is an unfair trade practice under G.S. 75‑1.1 and is subject to all of the investigative, enforcement, and penalty provisions of an unfair trade practice under this Article.Chapter.

§ 75‑152.  Ticket price transparency.

A secondary ticket exchange, ticket issuer, or reseller shall meet the following requirements when listing a ticket for sale or resale:

(1)        At any time the price of the ticket is displayed to the purchaser, the listing shall clearly and conspicuously disclose the total price of the ticket, including all mandatory fees and the maximum order processing fee, if any.

(2)        The total price of the ticket initially displayed at the beginning of a ticketing session shall not be increased during that ticketing session, except by the addition of the charges permitted under subdivision (4) of this subsection.

(3)        The listing shall clearly and conspicuously disclose to the consumer the existence and actual dollar amount of each mandatory fee, if any, prior to the completion of the transaction. The descriptor used to identify each mandatory fee shall not be deceptive or misleading.

(4)        The following charges are not mandatory fees and may be added to the ticket price and shall be disclosed to the purchaser prior to purchase of the ticket:

a.         Actual charges required to deliver a non‑electronic ticket to the address specified by the purchaser by the delivery method designated by the purchaser.

b.         Taxes or fees imposed on the transaction by any government.

c.         A reasonable fee for processing the order.

§ 75‑153.  Restrictions for ticket issuers.

(a)        A ticket issuer shall not restrict or hinder the ability of a purchaser that has purchased a ticket from a ticket issuer from doing any of the following:

(1)        Reselling a ticket independently of the primary ticket seller or any secondary ticket exchange owned or affiliated with the ticket issuer.

(2)        Reselling a ticket on the secondary ticket exchange of the purchaser's choosing.

(b)        A ticket issuer may not require a minimum or maximum price for the resale of a ticket purchased from the issuer.

(c)        A ticket issuer may not sanction, discriminate against, or deny a purchaser admission to an event, deny rights to bundled series tickets or the renewal thereof, or otherwise discriminate against a secondary ticket exchange seller or purchaser on the basis that the ticket was resold, gifted, or purchased as a resold ticket.

(d)       A ticket issuer shall deliver an electronic ticket to a purchaser within 72 hours of confirming the purchase order, unless the event occurs within 72 hours of the purchase, in which case a ticket issuer shall deliver the ticket as soon as reasonably possible following purchase order confirmation.

(e)        Nothing in this section prohibits an operator of a live entertainment venue from doing any of the following:

(1)        Maintaining and enforcing policies regarding conduct or behavior at or in connection with the operator's live entertainment venue.

(2)        Establishing limits on the quantity of tickets that may be purchased.

(3)        Selling or gifting nontransferable tickets to an event for either of the following reasons:

a.         The event is a private event.

b.         The ticket is offered at a discounted price to only a select group of people, including students, veterans, or members of an organization. Nontransferable tickets issued under this sub‑subdivision shall be clearly marked as nontransferable and shall not be offered promotionally to the general public.

§ 75‑154.  Secondary ticket exchange website addresses.

A secondary ticket exchange shall not use a website address that contains the name of or a name substantially similar to the name of the event, a performer at the event, or the venue to which the ticket is for.

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2025.