Illinois leaders discuss bill to ban listing tickets for sale before they're publicly released

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WLS) -- Illinois state leaders in Springfield are talking about a bill to ban speculative ticketing.

That's when tickets are listed for sale before they're released to the public.

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It is happening more often to some of Chicago's biggest arts and sports venues: bogus tickets sold online through fake websites.

The sellers are basically selling a promise that they may not be able to keep, if the inventory does not come available.

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State leaders are concerned because this could lead to fans being overcharged or sold invalid tickets.

The deceptive online practice has become more common since the pandemic.

"These sellers are very sophisticated in the metrics they're using. They replicate our websites. They use our logos, our artists, unlicensed images, and they appear legitimate," Harris Theater President and CEO Lori Dimun said.

The House has passed the bill, which requires a ticket in-hand before reselling it.

It now moves to the Illinois state Senate.

"This provides a recourse for the individual, though. Like they can now have an opportunity to file a lawsuit or go to the Office of the Attorney General," said state Rep. Nabeela Syed, D-Palatine.

Snoop Dog is coming to Ravinia Festival this summer. Before his scheduled September appearance was announced, tickets were already seen sold for thousands of dollars.

"We hadn't even built anything into our system, you know. There wasn't even a way to buy a ticket from Ravinia at that point, but they're already selling front row tickets to a concert that hasn't even been announced," said Duncan Moss, Ravinia Festival director of ticket operations.

But, the bill does not provide recourse at the box office. Venues, big and small, usually set aside tickets for customers who get scammed by fraudulent websites. The Lyric Opera says it can cost the nonprofit about $5,000 a night for a popular performance, which adds up to $400,000 a year.

"We just account for it in our budget now, but that's $400,000 less we can spend on being in schools around Chicago, on bringing kids into open dress rehearsals, on, you know, being with medical partners to help patients in hospitals," Lyric Opera of Chicago General Director John Mangum said.

Operators say the best way to get legitimate tickets is buy them directly from the venue's website or box office.

"That way you're guaranteed authentic ticket. And they're always the lowest prices, too," Ravinia President CEO Jeff Haydon said. "That's the thing. A lot of these speculative ticket prices, they're 10%, they're 10 times higher than the face value."

The state Senate is back in session Tuesday. Lawmakers are likely to take up the speculative ticket bill later this week or next.

The spring session wraps up May 31.