By Southwester Staff
On April 8, Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen convened a coalition representing local music venues, artists, and organizations at The Anthem to announce legislation targeting ticket scalpers and resale platforms. The bill would put in place a price cap on
resold tickets for live performances, ban speculative ticket sales, and require individuals and businesses selling more than 50 tickets a year to register with the District.
Allen’s bill would cover popular secondary ticketing platforms like StubHub, Vivid Seats, TicketNetwork, Ticket Center and SeatGeek, as well as ticket brokers who try to sell tickets they do not yet have in their possession. The announcement included representatives from 30 local venues and music industry associations, including I.M.P., which operates The Anthem, the 9:30 Club and other local venues. Musical artist CJ Johnson of the band Oh He Dead and the Office of the DC Attorney General also joined the announcement.
“Right now, people who want to go to a live show in DC are competing against companies and scalpers who make a lot of money by immediately scooping up as many tickets as possible and re-selling them at a much higher cost than the venue or performer is asking,” Allen said. “A $40 ticket could end up reselling for over $1,000. The result is fewer fans can afford to see their favorite artist at one of the amazing venues DC has to offer. These middlemen are making millions by driving up prices, with the profit exclusively going to the scalper and never to the artists or venue.”
Allen’s Restricting Egregious Scalping Against Live Entertainment (RESALE) Amendment Act of 2025 proposes capping the amount a ticket can be sold for on the secondary market at face value plus up to 10%. Violators of the law would be fined as much as $10,000 per ticket.
“Washington, DC has the opportunity to stop deception and price gouging in ticketing across the nation’s capital,” said Executive Director of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) Stephen Parker. “NIVA will do everything possible to help the DC Council enshrine the RESALE Act of 2025 into law this year and fully protect consumers in the District from predatory resale practices.”
“We want fans to be able to buy real tickets at the price the artists set, not get deceived and fleeced by scalpers,” Audrey Fix Schaefer, Director of Communications for I.M.P. said. “The RESALE Act, when signed into law, will protect consumers from price gouging, allowing them to go to more shows, which is good for the artists, our venues, and the city.”
In addition to DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb, Allen’s bill is supported by Councilmembers Robert White, Kenyan McDuffie, Zachary Parker, Christina Henderson, Brianne Nadeau, Janeese Lewis George, and Matt Frumin.
