I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3660 
To protect consumers from unfair and deceptive acts and practices in 
connection with primary and secondary ticket sales, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 25, 2023 
Mr. PASCRELL (for himself, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. BROWNLEY, and Ms. NOR-
TON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To protect consumers from unfair and deceptive acts and 
practices in connection with primary and secondary ticket 
sales, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Better Oversight of 
Stub Sales and Strengthening Well Informed and Fair 
Transactions for Audiences of Concert Ticketing Act of 
2023’’ or the ‘‘BOSS and SWIFT ACT of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) ANCILLARY CHARGES.—The term ‘‘ancillary 
charges’’— 
(A) means any fee that must be paid in 
order to secure a ticket from a primary ticket 
seller or secondary ticket sales marketplace, in-
cluding a service fee, convenience charge, deliv-
ery and logistics fee, and any other mandatory 
charge; and 
(B) does not include taxes. 
(2) BASE
PRICE.—The term ‘‘base price’’ 
means the price charged for a ticket other than any 
ancillary charge and tax. 
(3) BOX
OFFICE.—The term ‘‘box office’’ 
means a physical location where tickets are offered 
for primary sale. 
(4) BUNDLED
SERIES
TICKETS.—The term 
‘‘bundled series tickets’’ means a package of tickets 
for multiple events that are part of the same enter-
tainment series. 
(5) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 
means the Federal Trade Commission. 
(6) DOMAIN NAME.—The term ‘‘domain name’’ 
means a globally unique, hierarchical reference to an 
Internet host or service, which is assigned through 
centralized Internet naming authorities, and which is 
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application for a mobile device, or any other digital 
platform, whose purpose is to resell or facilitate the 
resale of tickets to purchasers. 
(12) SECONDARY TICKET SELLER.—The term 
‘‘secondary ticket seller’’ means an individual, group 
of individuals, or company, including a primary tick-
et seller, who engages in the resale or secondary sale 
of tickets. 
(13) TICKET.—The term ‘‘ticket’’ means a 
printed, electronic, or other type of evidence of the 
right for admission to a sporting event, theater, mu-
sical performance, or place of public amusement of 
any kind, including bundled series tickets. 
(14) TOTAL COST OF THE TICKET.—The term 
‘‘total cost of the ticket’’ means the base price of the 
ticket and any ancillary charge. 
(15) URL.—The term ‘‘URL’’ means the uni-
form resource locator for an internet website. 
SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY OF MARKETING, DISTRIBUTION, 
AND PRICING BY TICKET SELLERS. 
A primary ticket seller, secondary ticket seller, and 
secondary ticket sales marketplace shall do the following: 
(1) Disclose clearly and conspicuously the total 
cost of the ticket, from the first time a ticket price 
is displayed and anytime thereafter. 
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(2) Provide the purchaser before purchase an 
option to view the base price of the ticket with any 
ancillary charge and tax itemized. 
(3) Display the total cost of the ticket in any 
price quote and advertisement that includes the tick-
et price. 
(4) Not change the total cost of the ticket dur-
ing the purchase process unless there is a clear and 
conspicuous notice that the total cost of the ticket 
has changed. 
(5) If a ticket is not delivered (except for a case 
in which there is nondelivery due to a cause beyond 
reasonable control of the seller, including a natural 
disaster, civil disturbance, or otherwise unforeseeable 
impediment) provide the purchaser, at the option of 
the purchaser, at minimum— 
(A) a full refund for the total cost of the 
ticket and any tax; or 
(B) subject to availability, a replacement 
ticket in a comparable or upgraded location. 
(6) Disclose clearly and conspicuously whether 
any given ticket is being offered as a primary sale 
or secondary sale. 
(7) Disclose clearly and conspicuously the guar-
antee or refund policy, including whether any ancil-
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lary charge and tax will be refunded to the pur-
chaser, before the completion of the sale of a ticket. 
(8) Prohibit the design, modification, or manip-
ulation of a user interface with the purpose or sub-
stantial effect of obscuring, subverting, or impairing 
user autonomy, decision making, or choice. 
(9) Not knowingly sell a ticket for the same 
seat to more than one person. 
(10) Report to the Federal Trade Commission 
any actual or constructive knowledge of activity that 
may be in violation of the BOTS Act of 2016 (15 
U.S.C. 45c; Public Law 114–274). 
SEC. 4. PRIMARY TICKET SELLER REQUIREMENTS. 
A primary ticket seller shall do the following: 
(1) Disclose clearly and conspicuously on the 
website of the seller and at the box office of the 
venue where the event will be held, the total number 
and total cost of tickets that will be offered for sale 
to the general public by the seller not less than 7 
days before the date on which tickets are made 
available for primary sale. 
(2) Not restrict or hinder the ability of a pur-
chaser who has purchased a ticket from a primary 
ticket seller from— 
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(A) reselling any such ticket independently 
of the primary ticket seller or any secondary 
ticket sales marketplace owned or affiliated 
with the primary ticket seller; and 
(B) reselling such ticket on the secondary 
ticket sales marketplace the purchaser chooses. 
(3) Not require a minimum or maximum price 
for the resale of any ticket purchased from a pri-
mary ticket seller. 
(4) Not sanction or deny a purchaser admission 
to an event, deny rights to bundled series tickets or 
the renewal thereof, or otherwise discriminate 
against a purchaser on the basis that the purchaser 
resold a ticket, gifted a ticket, or purchased a resold 
ticket. 
SEC. 5. SECONDARY TICKET SELLERS AND SECONDARY 
TICKET 
SALES 
MARKETPLACES 
REQUIRE-
MENTS. 
A secondary ticket seller or secondary ticket sales 
marketplace shall comply with the following requirements: 
(1) If a secondary ticket seller does not control 
the ticket at the time the ticket is offered for sale— 
(A) the secondary ticket seller shall provide 
a clear and conspicuous statement on the initial 
ticket listing that the secondary ticket seller 
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does not control the ticket and cannot guar-
antee that the seller will be able to obtain the 
ticket; and 
(B) the secondary ticket sales marketplace 
shall implement and maintain a mechanism on 
the platform of the marketplace to clearly and 
conspicuously display the statement required in 
subparagraph (A). 
(2) A secondary ticket sales marketplace shall 
provide a clear and conspicuous explanation of how 
to obtain a refund of the total cost of the ticket and 
any tax if the purchaser receives a ticket that does 
not match the description of the ticket provided by 
the secondary ticket seller. 
(3) A secondary ticket sales marketplace shall 
disclose clearly and conspicuously to a purchaser 
when the secondary ticket sales marketplace is also 
the primary ticket seller for a venue, team, or artist 
associated with the event. 
(4) A secondary ticket sales marketplace shall 
disclose clearly and conspicuously upon offering a 
ticket for resale— 
(A) the delivery method, and the delivery 
timing; and 
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(B) the precise section and row of the seat 
or space to which the ticket would entitle the 
bearer, or, if information about the precise sec-
tion and row of the seat or space is not avail-
able, descriptive information about the location 
of the seat or space, such as a description of a 
section or other area within the venue where 
the seat or space is located. 
(5) A secondary ticket sales marketplace— 
(A) shall provide a clear and conspicuous 
statement, before a visitor creates an account 
with the secondary ticket sales marketplace or 
selects a ticket, that the marketplace is engaged 
in the secondary sale of tickets and is not affili-
ated or endorsed by a venue, team, or artist, as 
the case may be, unless the marketplace has the 
express written consent of the venue, team, or 
artist, as applicable; and 
(B) shall not use a domain name, or any 
subdomain thereof, in the URL of the market-
place that contains— 
(i) the name of a specific team, 
league, or venue where concerts, sports, or 
other live entertainment events are held, 
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(A) is for a higher total cost than the total 
cost in the primary sale of the ticket; or 
(B) is made to any third party and the em-
ployee has actual knowledge, or knowledge fair-
ly implied on the basis of objective cir-
cumstances, that the third party intends to sell 
the ticket for a higher total cost than the total 
cost in the primary sale of the ticket. 
SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT. 
(a) FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION.—A violation of 
sections 3, 4, or 5 of this Act, or any rule prescribed pur-
suant to this Act, is enforceable as a violation of a rule 
defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice prescribed 
under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commis-
sion Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). The Federal Trade 
Commission shall enforce this Act in the same manner, 
by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction as 
though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act were incorporated into and made 
a part of this Act. Nothing in this Act shall be construed 
to limit the authority of the Federal Trade Commission 
under any other law. 
(b) STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (6), in any case in which the attorney general 
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of a State has reason to believe that an interest of 
the residents of that State has been or is threatened 
or adversely affected by the engagement of any per-
son in a practice that violates a rule prescribed pur-
suant to this Act, the State, as parens patriae, may 
bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the 
State in an appropriate district court of the United 
States or other court of competent jurisdiction to— 
(A) enjoin that practice; 
(B) enforce compliance with the rule; 
(C) obtain civil penalties; 
(D) obtain damages, restitution, or other 
compensation on behalf of residents of the 
State; and 
(E) obtain such other relief as the court 
may consider to be appropriate. 
(2) NOTICE.—The State shall serve written no-
tice to the Commission of any civil action under 
paragraph (1) at least 60 days prior to initiating 
such civil action. The notice shall include a copy of 
the complaint to be filed to initiate such civil action, 
except that if it is not feasible for the State to pro-
vide such prior notice, the State shall provide notice 
immediately upon instituting such civil action. 
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(3) INTERVENTION
BY
FTC.—Upon receiving 
the notice required by paragraph (2), the Commis-
sion may intervene in such civil action and upon in-
tervening— 
(A) be heard on all matters arising in such 
civil action; 
(B) remove the action to the appropriate 
United States district court; and 
(C) file petitions for appeal of a decision in 
such civil action. 
(4) SAVINGS
CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub-
section shall prevent the attorney general of a State 
from exercising the powers conferred on the attorney 
general by the laws of such State to conduct inves-
tigations or to administer oaths or affirmations or to 
compel the attendance of witnesses or the production 
of documentary and other evidence. Nothing in this 
section shall prohibit the attorney general of a State, 
or other authorized State officer, from proceeding in 
State or Federal court on the basis of an alleged vio-
lation of any civil or criminal statute of that State. 
(5) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS; JOINDER.— 
In a civil action brought under paragraph (1)— 
(A) the venue shall be a judicial district in 
which the defendant or a related party is found, 
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is an inhabitant, or transacts business, or wher-
ever venue is proper under section 1391 of title 
28, United States Code; 
(B) process may be served without regard 
to the territorial limits of the district or of the 
State in which the civil action is instituted; and 
(C) a person who participated with a de-
fendant or related party in an alleged violation 
that is being litigated in the civil action may be 
joined in the civil action without regard to the 
residence of the person. 
(6) PREEMPTIVE ACTION BY FTC.—Whenever a 
civil action or an administrative action has been in-
stituted by or on behalf of the Commission for viola-
tion of any rule described under paragraph (1), no 
State may, during the pendency of such action insti-
tuted by or on behalf of the Commission, institute 
a civil action under paragraph (1) against any de-
fendant named in the complaint in such action for 
violation of any rule as alleged in such complaint. 
(7) AWARD OF COSTS AND FEES.—If a State 
prevails in any civil action under paragraph (1), the 
State can recover reasonable costs and attorney fees. 
(c) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Any person who 
suffers injury as a result of another person’s violation of 
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a rule prescribed pursuant to section 3(1) or 4(2), may 
bring a civil action against such person in a United States 
district court and may recover from such person damages 
for such injury plus $1,000 for each requirement or prohi-
bition set forth in such sections that such person violated 
with respect to a ticket sold to the person bringing such 
action, and reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs. 
SEC. 7. NONPREEMPTION. 
Nothing in this Act shall affect the authority of any 
State or local government to establish or continue in effect 
a provision of law of the State or local government relating 
to the regulation of the resale of tickets to events or the 
pricing of such tickets for resale, except to the extent that 
such provision is inconsistent with this Act or a regulation 
promulgated under this Act, and then only to the extent 
of the inconsistency. A provision of law of a State or local 
government is not inconsistent with this Act or a regula-
tion promulgated under this Act if such provision provides 
equal or greater protection to purchasers than the protec-
tion provided under this Act or such regulation. 
SEC. 8. FTC STUDY OF TICKET MARKET. 
(a) EFFECT OF BOTS ACT OF 2016.—Not later than 
90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Commission shall submit to Congress a report on the ef-
fect of the enforcement actions by the Commission since 
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