MAIN Event Ticketing Act Advances 36-0 in U.S. House Committee, Targeting Ticket Bots

A U.S. House committee has unanimously advanced legislation aimed at strengthening federal protections against automated ticket-buying systems, moving a proposed overhaul of America’s existing anti-bot law one step closer to a vote by the full House.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 36-0 on September 16, 2026 to report H.R. 2713, the MAIN Event Ticketing Act, to the House as amended. The measure’s full name is the Mitigating Automated Internet Networks for Event Ticketing Act.

Introduced in April 2025 by Rep. Diana Harshbarger with Rep. Troy Carter as an original co-sponsor, the bill would expand the Better Online Ticket Sales Act of 2016, commonly known as the BOTS Act. That existing law prohibits circumventing technological controls used by ticket sellers to enforce purchase limits and also addresses the resale of tickets obtained through prohibited methods.

WHAT WOULD CHANGE FOR TICKET SELLERS?

Under the committee text considered before the Sept. 16 vote, online ticket issuers that operate their own sales services would be required to maintain technological controls designed to enforce their posted ticket-purchase limits.

The proposal would also require those companies to notify the Federal Trade Commission within 30 days when they have actual knowledge that those controls have been circumvented, and to take reasonable steps to improve systems that have been defeated. The legislation would additionally direct the FTC to establish a public reporting mechanism and issue compliance guidance.

The proposal also introduces minimum monetary penalties. The committee version described by Music Business Worldwide would establish civil penalties of at least $10,000 for each day a violation occurs or continues, plus at least $1,000 per violation. Intentional violations could trigger an additional minimum penalty of $10,000 for each violation.

Because the committee approved H.R. 2713 as amended and the final reported text had not yet been published when the measure advanced, some wording could differ from the earlier committee print.

THE BILL ARRIVES DURING A MAJOR TICKETING DISPUTE

The legislation is moving through Congress while Live Nation and Ticketmaster are defending a separate federal lawsuit brought by the FTC and seven states.

The FTC alleges that the companies misrepresented ticket-purchase limits and knowingly allowed professional brokers to exceed those limits before tickets appeared on Ticketmaster’s resale marketplace. Live Nation and Ticketmaster dispute the allegations and have sought dismissal of the case. The litigation remains pending, and no court has determined liability.

Live Nation has separately expressed support for strengthening the BOTS Act, although the company has raised concerns about how broadly reporting obligations could operate when attempted bot attacks occur at large scale.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The committee vote does not make the MAIN Event Ticketing Act law.

H.R. 2713 can now proceed to consideration by the full House, but no floor vote has been scheduled. A Senate version, S. 196, has separately advanced through the Senate Commerce Committee and is on the Senate Legislative Calendar, but it has not received a final Senate vote.

For the proposal ultimately to become federal law, identical legislation would need approval from both chambers of Congress and then be presented to the president.

For concertgoers, the significance is straightforward: Congress is considering not only tougher penalties against people who circumvent ticket-purchase controls, but also new responsibilities for the platforms expected to maintain and enforce those controls.

Watch The Beatles’ official “Ticket to Ride” music video below:

Written by Gino Alache – Music Journalist

SOURCE: U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce / U.S. Congress / Federal Trade Commission / Music Business Worldwide

IMAGE CREDIT: © Corbis