Bots, Beware! House Passes Bill to Combat Hiked Ticket Prices to HAMILTON and More

Ticket bots, beware!

According to Bloomberg, the House passed a bill earlier this week to make it illegal for resellers using sophisticated automated software to bypass rules against bulk purchases of tickets for Broadway shows and other live events.

This is good news for fans looking to finally be in the room where it happens at the notoriously pricey HAMILTON.

HAMILTON producer Jeffrey Seller, along with Florida Senator Bill Nelson, other senators, and ticketing and gaming industry reps, appeared before a Senate panel yesterday to make their case for the bill, H.R. 5104.

After seeing an $800 price tag on tickets to watch the 10-dollar founding father onstage, Nelson told the Senate Commerce subcommittee: "This is not capitalism, this is not the free market, this is a rigged market benefiting some greedy speculators."

Seller stated: "My reason for being here today -- I would even go so far as to call it my mission -- is to ensure that young people, and people of all ages, including Senator Nelson, for that matter, have the same opportunity to see live performances of whatever interests them -- musicals, plays and concerts."

Popular ticket vendors such as Ticketmaster and Stubhub do have limits on the number of tickets sold to individuals, but bots let outsiders work around the rules.

Seller, working with Ticketmaster, has already refunded $5 million for HAMILTON tickets purchased by bots.

Bloomberg writes that the bill passed by the House (sponsored by Republican Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee) "would also make it illegal to sell bot software or sell tickets knowingly bought through the use of bots."

At an earlier press conference on the issue, HAMILTON creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda commented: "This is a very simple issue. There is no disincentive for people who use bots."

As Hamilton continues to be the hottest ticket in town, ticket buyers have become increasingly frustrated in their inability to purchase tickets at fair market value, often paying hundreds of dollars above box office prices.

"It's hard to get tickets to anything, but while you're typing in your capture code, that bot has already got the ticket that you're trying to get and it's just not fair. We need to at least begin to level the playing field," Miranda added.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus