NIVA Applauds Congress’ Call For National Ticket Resale Price Cap to Rein In Live Nation’s “Lucratively” Profitable Resale Practices
NIVA Joins Senator Blumenthal in Urging Attorneys General to Break Up Live Nation-Ticketmaster
WASHINGTON, DC (March 16, 2026) — The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), today released the following statement praising the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report, entitled “SO CASUALLY CRUEL: How Ticketmaster’s Monopoly Supercharges Price and Fees.”
“Today's U.S. Senate report indicates that Live Nation is not a passive bystander to resale ticket price gouging – it is an active architect of it, internally strategizing to ‘strengthen [its] case for fewer resale restrictions’ and ‘lucratively’ profiting off of significant price hikes within the ticket resale market. Disgracefully, based on the report, Ticketmaster charged fans higher seller fees than it charged professional brokers, whose fees were individually negotiated to be lower.
“This makes it clear that resale price caps aren't just about reining in scalpers; they're about protecting consumers while reining in Live Nation itself. We applaud Senator Blumenthal and the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee for laying the groundwork for a national resale price cap, giving Congress and state legislatures the evidentiary foundation to enact resale caps with confidence across the country."
– Stephen Parker, Executive Director of the National Independent Venue Association
ABOUT NIVA
The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) is the national trade association representing thousands of independent live entertainment venues, festivals, promoters, and more. NIVA works to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of live entertainment. NIVA empowers members and their teams with member benefits, advocacy on the state, local, and federal levels, an annual industry-leading conference, and more.
NIVA led the Save Our Stages campaign, culminating in landmark legislation in 2020 that established the $16.25 billion Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, the largest arts investment in U.S. history.
NIVA is committed to equity in its support of independent stages. It seeks to create and encourage opportunities for venues, promoters, and festivals owned, operated, and staffed by people of color, women, non-binary, LGBTQ+, veterans, and people with disabilities.
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