SeatGeek, Vivid Seats, Gametime and TickPick, with their trade group the Ticket Policy Forum, sued the District of Columbia in federal court on October 14, 2026 to block the RESALE Act, a law that caps concert, theater and comedy resales at 10% above the original price starting January 1, 2027.
The companies filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and asked for a preliminary injunction, arguing the law violates the dormant Commerce Clause, the Due Process Clause, the First Amendment and the Home Rule Act. TicketNews reports the complaint runs 40 pages and lists the case as Ticket Policy Forum Inc. et al. v. District of Columbia, No. 1:26-cv-03577. The D.C. Office of the Attorney General told WTOP it had no comment.
What does the RESALE Act actually require?
The full name is the Restricting Egregious Scalping Against Live Entertainment Amendment Act. Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen introduced it in April 2025, and the Council passed it unanimously in July 2026. TicketNews reports it became D.C. Law 26-181 on September 25, after mayoral review and the congressional review period every District law goes through.
| Rule | What it says |
|---|---|
| Price cap | Resale no higher than 110% of the original price paid, fees and taxes included |
| Fee cap | Marketplace service fee up to 10% of that same original total |
| Disclosure | The original purchase price shown on every resale listing |
| Speculative tickets | Banned: no listing a ticket the seller does not hold |
| Big sellers | Registration and a $25,000 surety bond for anyone listing 50 or more tickets a year |
| Also in the law | All-in pricing, refund protections, transfer disclosures, anti-bot rules, limits on surveillance pricing |
| Not covered | Most sports, movie screenings, and the price of the first sale |
What are the resellers arguing?
Reach first. The plaintiffs say the law governs any resale of a ticket to a D.C. event wherever the buyer, seller and marketplace sit, and that fewer than 1% of their covered transactions last year had both a D.C. seller and a D.C. buyer. Second, money: on a $40 ticket the fee cap allows $4, which they call confiscatory. Third, speech: the original-price disclosure, the complaint argues per Washington City Paper, “compels Plaintiffs to make” a statement about a transaction they were never part of and cannot verify, especially with dynamic pricing and digital tickets.
Notably, the suit is not a federal preemption fight. The forum's own release cites the FTC's 2025 all-in pricing rule as something marketplaces already follow, and Berry told WTOP there was “good in this bill,” naming upfront pricing and the speculative ban. The target is the cap.
Under the guise of affordability, the District enacted a law that will drive ticket sales into the shadows, subjecting fans to greater risks from street-side scams and increased fraud.Brian Berry, Ticket Policy Forum, press release, October 14, 2026
Allen, quoted by WTOP, put his side in six words: “Under my bill, that show is over.” I.M.P., the promoter behind the 9:30 Club and The Anthem, said it tracked $13.9 million in resale listings for its venues in September across more than 111,000 tickets, with 92% listed above face value. Those are asking prices, not completed sales.
Who does a resale cap really protect?
The fan is the stated answer, and a buyer facing a steep markup on a club show plainly gains. But read the mechanics. The cap is pegged to whatever the first sale charged, and the first sale is exempt. That makes the price the artist and promoter choose the legal anchor for every resale that follows. An act that holds tickets low gets that choice enforced. An act sold through dynamic pricing hands resellers a higher ceiling. Berry's sharpest line points the same way: he told WTOP that 90% or more of tickets are sold by Ticketmaster under exempt box office contracts.
The law does not set a fair price. It makes the artist's price stick, whatever that price is.
The marketplaces are the clear losers, which is why they sued. Britain is having its own argument over touts, as our UK explainer laid out, and U.S. bot enforcement is moving too, after a judge ruled Ticketmaster can be prosecuted under the BOTS Act. Berry says bills like D.C.'s were proposed in 15 other states this year. For club-sized rooms, where ticket economics are thinnest, the injunction ruling, due before January 1 if the plaintiffs get their way, is the one to watch.