The Impact of President Trump's Live Entertainment Industry Executive Order

On March 31, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order (EO), "Combating Unfair Practices in the Live Entertainment Market," that calls on the U.S. Attorney General (AG) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce competition laws in the concert and entertainment industry, as well as the FTC to rigorously enforce the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act in collaboration with state attorneys general. The EO also calls for:

the FTC to ensure price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process, including proposing regulations if needed

the FTC to prevent unfair, deceptive and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market

the U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary and AG to ensure ticket scalpers comply with tax laws and other regulations

The BOTS Act

The BOTS Act, which was enacted in 2016, grants authority to the FTC and state attorneys general to enforce actions against individuals and entities that employ bots or other methods to bypass limitations on online ticket purchases.

The BOTS Act prohibits the circumvention of a security measure, access control system or other technological control measure used online by a ticket issuer.1 Additionally, it prohibits selling or offering to sell event tickets obtained through such circumvention if the seller participated in or had control over the conduct or knew or should have known about the violation.2

A ticket issuer means any person who makes event tickets available, directly or indirectly, to the general public and includes:

a venue operator

the sponsor or promoter of an event

a sports team participating in an event or a league whose teams are participating in an event

a theater company, musical group or similar participant in an event

an agent for any such person listed above

The BOTS Act does not define "security measure," "access control system" or "technological control measure"; however, past FTC enforcement actions instruct on what shape these measures or systems can take.

FTC Enforcement

Since the BOTS Act was enacted in 2016, the FTC has taken legal action only once. In January 2021, the FTC pursued legal action against three New York-based ticket brokers who were accused of using automated software to purchase tens of thousands of tickets for popular concerts and sporting events, then reselling the tickets to consumers at higher prices.3 The ticket brokers used the software to circumvent the ticket issuer's security measures, which imposed restrictions on online ticket purchases. In each action, the ticket issuer had implemented the following safety measures:

used "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart" (CAPTCHAs) to ensure that visitors to its website were humans and not automated computer programs or ticket bots

prevented or blocked ticket purchasers from making multiple purchases on the same day from the same IP address

prevented individuals from purchasing more tickets than is otherwise allowed under its posted event ticket limits; the technological measures monitored the following information to verify whether the ticket purchase fell within posted purchase limits:

the individual's name

billing address

the ticket issuer accounts

the IP address and cookies associated with the computer that made the purchase

the credit card number used by the purchaser

Though the stipulated orders did not expound upon whether these mechanisms were sufficient, businesses would be wise to ensure they utilize similar mechanisms to prevent bots. The FTC did not pursue action against the ticket issuer directly, but it could have been potentially liable under the BOTS Act without the proper safeguards in place. Altogether, the ticket brokers were required to pay over $3.7 million in civil penalties. Notably, the stipulated orders also prohibit the ticket brokers from further violations of the BOTS Act, including using methods to evade ticket limits, using false identities to purchase tickets or using any bots to facilitate ticket purchases.

Given the Trump Administration's push to "rigorously enforce" the BOTS Act, the FTC is likely to increase its regulation and enforcement in this area. This EO marks a significant step in continuing pursuit against deceptive pricing practices, building upon initiatives from the Biden Administration, including the finalized Rule on Unfair and Deceptive Fees that goes into effect on May 12, 2025. That Rule requires that all mandatory fees are included in the "total price" shown to consumers and that the total price is the most prominent price displayed in any advertisement or listing. The Rule specifically targeted the live-event ticketing and short-term lodging sectors.

State Enforcement

The BOTS Act explicitly empowers state attorneys general to enforce the Act if they believe that the state's residents' interests have been "threatened or adversely affected" by those violating the Act.4 State attorneys general are authorized to bring a civil action on behalf of the state's residents in federal district court to:

enjoin further violation of the Act

compel compliance with the Act

obtain damages, restitution or other compensation on behalf of residents

The EO expands state enforcement of the BOTS Act to "other State consumer protection officers." Further, the EO encourages the FTC to provide such state officials with information or evidence obtained to further such state enforcement. Though there has previously been little to no BOTS-related state enforcement actions in the past, it is likely that state enforcement will significantly increase.

Prior to this EO, several states introduced legislation to prevent purchases of excess amounts of tickets. In April 2024, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed House Bill 2040, which prohibits a person from using an automated software program to purchase an excess amount of event tickets or circumvent waiting periods and presale codes often used to control the volume of online ticket sales. The bill, that was often referred to as the "Taylor Swift" bill, authorized the Arizona Attorney General to investigate these types of practices as a form of consumer fraud. In 2016, New York enacted legislation called for by its former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman that added criminal penalties for bot use to bypass ticket marketplace protections to the existing civil penalties. The law took effect in February 2017.

Takeaways

The BOTS Act does not specifically require a technological solution to circumvent purchase limits. Rather, it prohibits any means of bypassing these limits. Nevertheless, businesses within the live entertainment industry should ensure they have the appropriate safety measures and systems in place to prevent bots on their sites.

Though the EO mainly focuses on the secondary ticketing market, it foreshadows potential regulations targeted at the primary ticketing market. These proposed regulations could require uniform safety measure standards for live entertainment businesses to combat deceptive practices. Thus, businesses should establish clear security measures and procedures to prevent persons from bypassing limits on online ticket purchases.

In combination with the Rule on Unfair and Deceptive Fees, it is clear the administration is focused on reigning in anti-competitive conduct and enhancing price transparency in the live entertainment industry.

Notes

1 15 U.S.C. § 45c(a).

2 Id.

3 U.S. v. Concert Specials, Inc., No. 2:21-cv-00214; U.S. v. Just In Time Tickets, Inc., No. 2:21-cv-00215; U.S. v. Cartisim Corp., No. 2:21-cv-00212.

4 15 U.S.C. § 45c(c).