Chicago arts leaders back proposed law aimed at fake tickets

Leaders of Ravinia, Joffrey Ballet, Lyric Opera and other prominent Chicago arts groups joined together Monday to voice support for state legislation that would bar deceptive ticketing practices that they warn are on the rise.

Speculative ticketing, or ghost ticketing, is when a third-party seller lists tickets that they do not have. Audience members may think they have bought a legitimate ticket, only to arrive at the show with a fake. The problem has been rampant in the stadium concert industry, but the group Monday underscored that the fraudulent ticket problem now is impacting their local venues, not just national headliners like Taylor Swift.

Leaders say the practice threatens both their reputations and bottom lines.

At Downtown’s Lyric Opera House, the venue leaders were joined by two Illinois State lawmakers — Rep. Nabeela Syed, D-Palatine, and Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford — who are supporting the legislation to ban the practice.

Manuel Martinez/WBEZ

“Every day, patrons are being sold what they believe are valid tickets, when, in reality, they are only paying for a chance that someone may be able to secure a seat,” said John Mangum, Lyric’s general director, who was also joined by leaders of The Auditorium and Harris Theater.

“This practice leads to confusion, frustration, and what many in our field now call ‘front-gate heartbreak,’ when audiences arrive at a performance only to learn that they do not actually have a valid admission ticket.”

For venue operators, the concern goes beyond fielding disappointment from individual customers. It threatens their bottom line at a time when many are already hurting. A report released earlier this year found that nearly three out of four independent live entertainment venues in the city are currently not profitable, as they reel from rising artist fees, higher taxes and soaring labor and production costs.

“These businesses are already navigating rising costs and thin margins and speculative ticketing only makes it harder for them to survive by undermining the integrity of their ticket sales and eroding trust with fans,” Syed said.

The legislation passed the Illinois House unanimously on April 15 and now awaits action in the Senate. It would ban resellers from posting tickets they do not possess at the time of the listing. It would also strengthen consumer recourse by adding the ability to file complaints and prompt investigations by the attorney general’s office.

Several states, including Minnesota, have passed similar legislation, and a federal ban on speculative ticketing was introduced last year, although it stalled in Congress.

Mangum said he’s seen an uptick in speculative ticketing following the COVID-19 pandemic. Lyric has seen it happen most during runs of popular shows, like Billy Corgan’s “Night of Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness” or during the Joffrey’s “Nutcracker.” But, Mangum said it also emerges during more traditional operatic performances, including the company’s recent production of “Madama Butterfly.”

In addition to listings on third-party sites like StubHub, speculative tickets are often found on believable look-alike sites with convincing names that use real company logos and artist photos. They often advertise that tickets are nearly sold out — creating artificial scarcity and inflating prices for shows, sometimes before real tickets have even gone on sale.

“So the consumer thinks they're being savvy and buying from the right place, and they show up at the door, and they don't have a ticket,” Mangum said.

Manuel Martinez/WBEZ

To address the issue, Lyric’s box office sets aside tickets to ensure patrons who arrive with fake tickets can still see the performance. But that means lost ticket revenue, measuring anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000 per night, Mangum estimates. Over the course of the season, that adds up.

“This is not a small or isolated issue,” Mangum said. “It is a structural problem that affects audiences, artists and the broader cultural economy.”

At Ravinia, which just started selling tickets for its upcoming season, President and CEO Jeffrey P. Haydon estimates that about 5-10% of tickets sold come from speculative sites.

The practice became especially evident this season, Haydon said. As the Highland Park venue overhauls its main pavilion, its seat map is now different, but “the speculative ticketers have not figured that out yet, and were selling tickets to seats that do not exist.”

Haydon knows that no legislation will perfectly address the ever-shifting situation and smart online scammers, who are often operating outside of Illinois. However, he and other arts leaders are hopeful that it will act as a deterrent to begin to rein in the issue.

“I don't think any legislation ends up making anything perfect,” Haydon said. “But it starts to put those with maybe less altruistic motives on notice and hopefully to think twice.”

Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture reporter at WBEZ.