New York's Arts and Cultural Affairs Law (ACAL) has long been one of the most complex regulatory regimes for the sale of tickets to places of entertainment. On May 12, 2021, after conducting a year-long investigation into event ticketing, New York State Senator James Skoufis introduced a bill with widespread changes to New York's ticketing landscape. This article discusses the key proposals of the bill, which reached the New York Senate floor on May 20, 2021. As discussed below, the bill proposes a prohibition on exclusive ticket sale relationships for primary ticket sales, the elimination of dynamic pricing, and more stringent refund requirements for cancelled and postponed events. With several key provisions of ACAL set to sunset on June 30, 2021, the New York State Assembly recently passed a bill that would extend the expiration date to June 30, 2023. With the Skoufis bill and the Assembly's extension both before the state Senate, it seems like an appropriate time to take a closer look at what may be in store for ACAL's future.

ACAL Background

Since New York expanded the ticket resale business in 2007 by removing the cap on resale prices (see 2007 N.Y. Laws 2738), the legislature has continued to revise ACAL in response to concerns about ticket price and availability. In 2010, the legislature amended ACAL to regulate service fees and paperless tickets, as well as ban the use of ticket purchasing software (sometimes called "bots"). See 2010 N.Y. Laws 781, 785; see also Anthony J. Dreyer, "Hold All Tickets: New York Adopts (Yet Another) Ticket Resale Law," N.Y.L.J. (July 28, 2010). In 2016, the New York Attorney General surveyed the state ticket landscape and issued recommendations to further improve ACAL. See Eric T. Schneiderman, N.Y. State Attorney General, "Obstructed View: What's Blocking New Yorkers From Getting Tickets" (2016). In 2018, the state legislature amended ACAL to add clearer disclosures of ticket prices, exceptions to paperless ticket restrictions, additional notice requirements for ticket resellers, and increased penalties for using bots to obtain tickets for resale. See 2018 N.Y. Laws 110; see also Anthony J. Dreyer and Andrew Green, "Further Ticket Sale (and Resale) Reforms Come to New York State," N.Y.L.J., Sept. 21, 2018.

A Ban on Exclusive Ticket Sale Relationships

Senator Skoufis's bill would significantly alter the primary and secondary ticket sales regimes. Perhaps most notably, the bill seeks to place additional restrictions on operators of entertainment venues by amending General Obligations Law §5-338. The bill would prevent any entertainment venue from entering into a contract with a primary ticket vendor to serve as the venue's sole and exclusive ticket vendor. Although the 2016 NYAG report raised concerns about service fees, it did not issue any recommendations regarding the exclusive relationship between venue operators and ticket vendors. It is therefore notable that Senator Skoufis's bill seeks to prohibit such exclusive agreements. If the bill remains in its current form, it is unclear how the amendment would work in practice. Are operators required to have multiple primary sales partners for a single event (which would be logistically and practically untenable)? Could an operator comply with the new law by having a different partner for only a few events? Would existing agreements be "grandfathered"?