Washington, D.C.'s new ticket resale law now faces two federal lawsuits. On October 16, 2026, the National Association of Ticketing Professionals (NATP) and two Maryland-based ticket brokers, ASC Ticket Company of Gaithersburg and Stage Front Tickets, which has offices in Columbia, sued the District of Columbia over the RESALE Act's price cap, asking a judge to block it before it starts applying on January 1, 2027.
A narrower fight than the first suit
The 34-page complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia as case No. 1:26-cv-03620, arrived two days after a separate lawsuit from the Ticket Policy Forum, SeatGeek, Vivid Seats, Gametime and TickPick, which TicketNews reports is trying to throw out the RESALE Act in its entirety. The brokers' case is more targeted. According to TicketNews, it challenges only the resale price ceiling, and leaves alone the separate cap on marketplace service fees and the law's rules on speculative listings, disclosures and anti-bot protections. The plaintiffs are also seeking a preliminary injunction.
Under the law, which TicketNews reports became law as D.C. Law 26-181 on September 25, 2026, a covered concert or theater ticket generally cannot be resold for more than 110% of its original total price, including the fees and taxes paid in the first sale. A resale marketplace may add a service fee of up to 10% of that original total. Certain sporting events and movies are exempt, and the law puts no comparable limit on primary sales by artists, promoters, venues or their ticketing partners.
What the brokers argue
The complaint lays out six counts. It argues that the cap is unconstitutionally vague, that it violates the Dormant Commerce Clause by reaching sales outside the District, that it breaks the Fifth Amendment's equal protection guarantee by treating resellers and primary sellers differently, and that the D.C. Council exceeded its authority under the Home Rule Act. One example in the filing asks how a Maryland reseller is supposed to know whether the cap covers a sale to a D.C. resident for a concert in Baltimore. The plaintiffs also say brokers often cannot verify a ticket's “initial” price after it has changed hands, and that the sports exemption is unclear for events such as NCAA tournament games in D.C. Violations can bring fines of $1,000 to $8,000 per offense, TicketNews reports.
“A price cap doesn't make tickets cheaper,” NATP executive director Gary Adler said in a statement. The brokers cite an industry-backed estimate from Protect Ticket Rights that resale buyers saved more than $6.1 million on D.C. events in 2024 compared with primary prices, a figure TicketNews says it has not independently verified.
The complaint also points at the District's own record: it says D.C.'s Attorney General helped persuade a jury in April that Live Nation and Ticketmaster illegally monopolized parts of the live business, while the Council later declined to limit what primary ticketers charge.
The other side
The law's sponsor, Councilmember Charles Allen, has argued that resale companies use technology to grab tickets and then charge inflated prices. The National Independent Venue Association and D.C. promoter I.M.P. support the cap. Audrey Fix Schaefer, NIVA's board president and I.M.P.'s communications director, told TicketNews that the promoter tracked $13.9 million in ticket listings for its venues in September, with 92% advertised above face value. Those are asking prices, not completed sales. The court has not yet ruled on either request to block the law. All claims in both complaints are allegations that have not been tested in court.