President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order to protect Americans from ‘exploitive ticket scalping’ in the concert and entertainment industry, Fox News Digital has learned.
The president’s executive order will direct the Federal Trade Commission to work with the attorney general to ensure that competition laws are enforced in the concert and entertainment industry.
The order will also enforce the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) act and promote its enforcement by state consumer protection authorities.
The president’s order will also ensure price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchasing process, including through the secondary ticketing market; and will evaluate, and, if appropriate, take enforcement action to prevent ‘unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct’ in the secondary ticketing market.
The president’s order will also direct the attorney general and Treasury secretary to ensure that ticket scalpers are operating in full compliance with the Internal Revenue Code and other laws.
Under the order, the Treasury Department, DOJ, and the FTC will also deliver a report within 180 days summarizing the actions taken to address the issue of unfair practices in live concert and entertainment industry and will recommend additional regulations or legislation needed to protect consumers.
The order comes after President Trump, on the campaign trail, vowed to work to combat high ticket prices. While campaigning, the president described the current system where fans are priced out as ‘very unfortunate.’
A White House official told Fox News Digital that the president is ‘committed to making arts and entertainment that enrich Americans’ lives as accessible as possible.’
The official said that America’s live concert and entertainment industry has a total nationwide economic impact of $132.6 billion and supports 913,000 jobs.
‘But it has become blighted by unscrupulous middle-men who impose egregious fees on fans with no benefit to artists,’ a White House official said.
‘Ticket scalpers use bots and other unfair means to acquire large quantities of face-value tickets, then re-sell them at an enormous markup on the secondary market, price-gouging consumers and depriving fans of the opportunity to see their favorite artists without incurring extraordinary expenses,’ a White House official said. ‘By some reports, fans have paid as much as 70 times the face value of a ticket price to obtain a ticket.’
The official added that when this occurs, the artists ‘do not receive any additional profit—it goes solely to the scalper and the ticketing agency.’
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.