Last month, Gov. Maura Healey unveiled The Great Divide Act, which, if passed, will cap resale ticket markups at 110% of face value.

While no one questions the need for ticketing reform, consumer advocates are divided over whether the well-intended bill, as written, will protect fans or if it will instead benefit Ticketmaster, the monopoly that controls most ticket sales in Massachusetts. It’s an issue that matters especially right now as Boston is welcoming some high-profile acts to town this month, from Chris Brown to Chance the Rapper to 50 Cent, while both the African Festival of Boston and the Boston Jazz Fest are in late August.

Ticketmaster’s support for the resale cap

Ticketmaster is publicly supportive of the state’s new resale bill, a notable stance from a corporation a federal jury just ruled operates as an illegal monopoly.

In April, a federal jury found that the ticketing giant and its parent company Live Nation operate an illegal monopoly over live entertainment, a case Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell helped lead alongside dozens of other states.

Campbell called the verdict a step that “forces real accountability,” saying it sends a message that no company, no matter how powerful, is allowed to rig the market against consumers.

Why does the ticketing monopoly support the reform bill?

Most of The Great Divide Act provisions are uncontroversial; however, the bill’s resale price cap, and how much more power Ticketmaster will accrue at fans’ expense because of it, has become the subject of a growing debate.

The explanation for Ticketmaster’s endorsement, according to critics of the bill, is that The Great Divide Act only touches the secondary resale market. It does not address the primary market — the initial ticket sale — where Ticketmaster controls an estimated 90% of sales in Massachusetts. Critics say that for this reason, the legislation would indirectly grant the same monopoly that a federal jury just deemed to be overcharging fans even more control over their ticketing transactions.

What the math shows

Financial filings help explain why Ticketmaster can afford to look unbothered by this bill. The company’s ticketing segment generated $3.1 billion in revenue in 2025 — about 12% of parent company Live Nation’s total $25.2 billion in revenue. The rest comes from concert promotion, venue operations and sponsorship deals.

Independent resale platforms don’t have that same cushion.

Resale companies depend on ticket resale for nearly all their revenue. As such, this bill could complicate the ticketing industry’s existing antitrust problems. While Ticketmaster already monopolizes the primary ticketing industry, a resale price cap could, by bankrupting many existing resale companies, limit the number of competitors Ticketmaster currently has on the resale side, allowing the monopoly to increase its market share even further. By this logic, Massachusetts residents would become even more captive to the company for its ticketing needs.

Why this hits home differently for Boston’s Black communities

For many fans already navigating a high cost of living, ticket prices for concerts and events — including R&B, gospel and hip-hop tours that draw heavily in Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan and other Black communities across the state — are not a minor inconvenience. Service fees and dynamic pricing spikes eat further into entertainment budgets already stretched by housing and everyday costs. However, critics argue that a resale price cap would increase the amount of ticketing fraud vulnerable Massachusetts communities experience while doing little to fix the affordability issue.

Michael McCall, president of the Boston Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, warns that if a resale price cap limits the number of tickets available on the resale marketplace, prices won’t come down. Instead, more consumers could be pushed toward the exact channels where fraud protections are weakest, like Facebook groups and Marketplace listings — the opposite of the bill’s intent. That is the logic by which certain Democratic officials, such as District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser, oppose resale price caps.

Also affected would be concert halls, which operate on thin profit margins. Fewer consumers buying tickets through traditional avenues could lead these venues to offer fewer shows, lay off staff or shut down completely. Already, some artists have canceled tours due to a lack of demand for highly priced tickets, including Post Malone and Meghan Trainor.

What’s next

The Great Divide Act has been officially submitted to the Massachusetts General Court. Amendments and rigorous debate are expected before any final vote.

Shay Bohannon is a social justice advocate and community organizer.