HB 5125

General Assembly  Substitute Bill No. 5125
  February Session, 2026
 AN ACT CONCERNING ENTERTAINMENT EVENT TICKETS.
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
 Assembly convened:
1Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) As used in this section,
2    "ticket reseller" means any person who advertises or facilitates the resale
3    of any ticket to an entertainment event.
4(b) No ticket reseller shall enter into a contract with a purchaser for
5    the resale of any ticket to an entertainment event, or accept from a
6    purchaser any consideration as payment in full or as a deposit for the
7    resale of any such ticket, unless the ticket reseller:
8(1) Is in possession of such ticket; or
9      (2) Has entered into a written contract (A) (i) with the person who is
10   in possession of such ticket, or (ii) with a person who has a contractual
11   right to obtain such ticket from the person who is in possession of such
12   ticket, and (B) that entitles such ticket reseller to obtain such ticket from
13   a person described in subparagraph (A) of this subdivision at a price
14   specified in such written contract.
15     (c) (1) Nothing in subsection (b) of this section shall be construed to
16   prohibit a ticket reseller from accepting a deposit from a prospective
17   purchaser of a ticket to an entertainment event as part of a contract that
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18 requires the ticket reseller to make best efforts to obtain a ticket to the
19 entertainment event for the prospective purchaser at a price or within a
20 price range, and by a time, specified in the contract, provided the ticket
21 reseller discloses to the prospective purchaser in oral or written form at
22 the time such ticket reseller enters into such contract with such
23 prospective purchaser or accepts such deposit from such prospective
24 purchaser, whichever occurs first, that such ticket reseller:
25   (A) Is not in possession of the ticket desired by such prospective
26 purchaser or has not entered into a written contract (i) (I) with a person
27 who is in possession of such ticket, or (II) with a person who has a
28 contractual right to obtain such ticket from the person who is in
29 possession of such ticket, and (ii) that entitles such ticket reseller to
30 obtain such ticket from a person described in subparagraph (A)(i) of this
31 subdivision at a price specified in such written contract; and
32   (B) May not be able to supply such ticket to such prospective
33 purchaser at the contracted price or within the contracted price range.
34    (2) If a ticket reseller makes the disclosure required under subdivision
35 (1) of this subsection to a prospective purchaser in oral form, the ticket
36 reseller shall memorialize such disclosure to the prospective purchaser
37 in written form not later than two business days after such ticket reseller
38 made such disclosure to such prospective purchaser in oral form.
39    (d) A violation of any provision of subsection (b) or (c) of this section
40 shall constitute an unfair or deceptive act or practice in the conduct of
41 trade or commerce pursuant to subsection (a) of section 42-110b of the
42 general statutes.
43    Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) (a) (1) Except as provided in
44 subdivision (2) of this subsection, no person shall advertise or facilitate
45 the sale or resale of any ticket to an entertainment event by way of an
46 Internet web site if the Internet domain of such Internet web site, or any
47 Internet subdomain of such Internet web site, contains:
48   (A) The name of the venue for such entertainment event;
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49    (B) The name of the entertainment event, including, but not limited
50 to, the name of any individual or group scheduled to perform or
51 appear at such entertainment event; or
52   (C) Any name that is substantially similar to a name described in
53 subparagraph (A) or (B) of this subdivision.
54    (2) The provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection shall not be
55 construed to apply to any person who is acting on behalf of the venue
56 for the entertainment event.
57    (b) A violation of any provision of subsection (a) of this section shall
58 constitute an unfair or deceptive act or practice in the conduct of trade
59 or commerce pursuant to subsection (a) of section 42-110b of the general
60 statutes.
61    Sec. 3. Section 53-289a of the general statutes is repealed and the
62 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026):
63   (a) As used in this section: [, "service charge"]
64   (1) "Entertainment event" (A) includes, but is not limited to, an
65 athletic competition, sporting event, concert, operatic performance or
66 theatrical performance or admission to a place of amusement, and (B)
67 does not include a movie;
68    (2) "Entertainment venue" includes, but is not limited to, an arena,
69 exhibition hall, performance hall, place of amusement, stadium or
70 theater, but does not include a movie theater;
71    (3) "Person" means an individual, association, corporation, limited
72 liability company, partnership, trust or other legal entity; and
73    (4) "Service charge" means any additional fee or charge that is
74 designated as an "administrative fee", "service fee" or "surcharge" or by
75 using another substantially similar term.
76   (b) No person shall advertise the prices of tickets to any
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77 entertainment event for which a service charge is imposed, including,
78 but not limited to, any [place of amusement, arena, stadium, theater,
79 performance, sport, exhibition or athletic contest given] entertainment
80 venue in this state [for] at which a service charge is imposed for the sale
81 of a ticket at [the site of the event] such entertainment venue, without
82 conspicuously disclosing in such advertisement, whether displayed at
83 [the site of the event] such entertainment venue or elsewhere, the total
84 price for each ticket and [what] which portion of each ticket price, stated
85 in a dollar amount, represents a service charge.
86    (c) If a price is charged for admission to [a place of] an entertainment
87 venue, the operator of the [place of] entertainment venue shall print,
88 endorse or otherwise disclose on the face of each ticket to an
89 entertainment event at such [place of] entertainment venue (1) the price
90 established for such ticket, or (2) if such operator, or such operator's
91 agent, sells or resells such ticket, including at auction, the final price of
92 such ticket.
93    (d) (1) Any person that advertises or facilitates the sale or resale of a
94 ticket to an entertainment event shall (A) disclose the total price of such
95 ticket, which total price shall include all service charges required to
96 purchase such ticket, and (B) disclose, in a clear and conspicuous
97 manner, to the purchaser of such ticket the portion of the total ticket
98 price, expressed as a dollar amount, that is attributable to service
99 charges charged to such purchaser for such ticket.
100     (2) Any person that advertises or facilitates the resale of a ticket to an
101 entertainment event via an Internet web site or online technology
102 platform, the primary purpose of which is to facilitate resales of such
103 tickets, shall disclose, in a clear and conspicuous manner, that the ticket
104 is a resale ticket that may be offered at a price that differs from the price
105 of a ticket to an entertainment event that is offered or sold by the
106 presenter of the entertainment event.
107   [(2)] (3) (A) The disclosures required under [subdivision (1)]
108 subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection shall be displayed [in the
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109 ticket listing before the ticket is selected for purchase. The total ticket
110 price] when the ticket is initially offered for sale or resale to a purchaser,
111 and the displayed price shall not increase during the period beginning
112 when [a] the ticket is [selected for purchase] initially offered for sale or
113 resale to a purchaser and ending when [a] the ticket is purchased, except
114 a reasonable service charge may be charged for delivery of a
115 nonelectronic ticket if [(A)] (i) such service charge is based on the
116 delivery method selected by the ticket purchaser, and [(B)] (ii) such
117 service charge is disclosed to such purchaser before such purchaser
118 purchases such ticket.
119    (B) Nothing in subparagraph (A) of this subdivision shall be
120 construed to prohibit (i) any change in the price of a ticket after a
121 purchaser's transaction period has timed out if the purchaser has not yet
122 purchased the ticket, or (ii) the use of a dynamic pricing model,
123 provided the ticket price does not increase during the period beginning
124 when the ticket is initially offered to the purchaser and ending when the
125 purchaser completes the ticket purchasing process or the purchaser's
126 transaction period has timed out, whichever occurs first.
127    [(3)] (4) No disclosure required under this subsection shall be (A)
128 false or misleading, (B) presented more prominently than the total ticket
129 price, or (C) displayed in a font size that is as large or larger than the
130 font size in which the total ticket price is displayed.
131    [(e) A movie shall not be deemed to constitute an entertainment event
132 for the purposes of this section.]
133    (e) (1) Each person that sells or resells a ticket to a live entertainment
134 event shall (A) if the live entertainment event is cancelled, provide a
135 refund to the purchaser (i) in an amount that is equal to the total price
136 of such ticket, which total price shall include all service charges that
137 were charged to purchase such ticket except for any reasonable service
138 charge that was charged for delivery of a nonelectronic ticket, and (ii)
139 not later than thirty days following cancellation of such live
140 entertainment event, and (B) disclose, in a clear and conspicuous
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141 manner, to each purchaser of a ticket to the live entertainment event that
142 such purchaser is entitled to a refund in the amount and within the
143 thirty-day period set forth in subparagraph (A) of this subdivision if
144 such live entertainment event is cancelled.
145    (2) The disclosure required under subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1)
146 of this subsection shall be displayed to each purchaser of a ticket to a
147 live entertainment event before such purchaser purchases such ticket.
148    (f) The Commissioner of Consumer Protection may adopt
149 regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to
150 implement the provisions of this section.
151    (g) A violation of any provision of subsections (b) to (e), inclusive, of
152 this section shall constitute an unfair or deceptive act or practice in the
153 conduct of trade or commerce pursuant to subsection (a) of section 42-
154 110b.
  This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
  sections:
  Section 1      October 1, 2026  New section
  Sec. 2  October 1, 2026  New section
  Sec. 3  October 1, 2026  53-289a
 Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
 In Section 1(c)(1), "orally or in writing" was changed to "in oral or
 written form" for consistency with other provisions of the section; and
 in Section 1(c)(2), "provide" was changed to "memorialize" for clarity.
 GL  Joint Favorable Subst.
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