Illinois has banned junk fees, ticket-buying bots, and the resale of tickets that sellers don’t yet possess.
Governor JB Pritzker signed the measures into law on Thursday (June 25) at Concord Music Hall in Chicago, joined by legislators and community members.
Live Nation Entertainment applauded the move, singling out the state’s ban on “speculative tickets and deceptive websites.”
One of the bills, House Bill 4984, bans so-called “ghost ticketing” by barring resellers from listing tickets they don’t hold “in their physical or contractual possession.”
A second, Senate Bill 318, bans the use of bots to buy tickets beyond posted purchase limits.
The third, House Bill 228, is a ban on junk fees that requires any business to show all mandatory fees and surcharges in the advertised price, before taxes.
“Illinois is saying goodbye to junk fees once and for all, addressing abuses in the ticketing marketplace, and fighting for greater oversight and consumer protections.”
JB Pritzker, Illinois Governor
For ticket sellers, that means the price a fan first sees must include “processing” and “facility” fees rather than adding them at checkout, according to Governor Pritzker‘s office.
HB 4984 took effect immediately, while HB 228 and SB 318 take effect on January 1, 2027.
“Illinois is saying goodbye to junk fees once and for all, addressing abuses in the ticketing marketplace, and fighting for greater oversight and consumer protections,” said Governor JB Pritzker.
“I’m proud to sign a slate of bills that cuts costs for working families while advancing transparency, fairness, and accountability on behalf of Illinoisans.”
In its statement, Live Nation said: “We applaud Illinois lawmakers for standing for fans and artists by passing a ban on speculative tickets and deceptive websites.”
“No one should be able to scam fans by listing tickets they don’t have or pretending to be legitimate ticket sellers,” the Live Nation statement added.
“No one should be able to scam fans by listing tickets they don’t have or pretending to be legitimate ticket sellers.”
Live Nation Entertainment
State Representative Nabeela Syed, a sponsor of the bot bill, framed the measures as protection for independent venues.
“This is also about the small, independent venues that are the heartbeat of our communities,” Syed said. “When scalpers and bots hollow out a sold-out show, those venues lose the ticket sales, the concessions, and the local revenue they depend on to keep their doors open.”
“When scalpers and bots hollow out a sold-out show, those venues lose the ticket sales, the concessions, and the local revenue they depend on to keep their doors open.”
Nabeela Syed, Illinois State Representative
Mike Petryshyn, co-founder of the Chicago festival Riot Fest, said the new protections “help ensure people know exactly what they’re paying for and give real fans a better chance to get tickets.”
HB 4984 passed both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly unanimously, according to Ravinia President and CEO Jeffrey P. Haydon, who called its signing “a historic moment for Illinois consumers and the entire live entertainment industry.”
The state measures land as Live Nation and Ticketmaster face federal action on multiple fronts.
In September 2025, the Federal Trade Commission – joined by Illinois and six other states – sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster, alleging the company profits from resellers who breach ticket limits.
The FTC complaint said that between 2019 and 2024, consumers paid USD $16.4 billion in mandatory fees on Ticketmaster purchases.
In a separate case, a federal jury in April 2026 found that Live Nation and Ticketmaster monopolized primary ticketing at major US concert venues, overcharging consumers by $1.72 per ticket.
The Department of Justice, which sued alongside dozens of states in 2024, settled with Live Nation during the trial in a deal that let the company keep Ticketmaster. Most states rejected the settlement and pressed on to the April verdict, and a coalition of states is now pushing for the company to be broken up.
Live Nation has said it supports fee transparency, having switched to “all-in” pricing at its US venues in 2023 and backed federal legislation to make all-in pricing the national standard.
The company also welcomed an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in March 2025 that directed federal agencies to target scalping and hidden fees.
Hidden fees add up across the economy: Consumer Reports estimates the average American family of four spends about $3,200 a year on junk fees.
Chicago has seen the fallout up close.
Ticketmaster‘s on-sale for Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour collapsed in November 2022, and the company canceled the public sale.
Hundreds of Swift fans from across the US, including Chicago-area residents, later sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation over the failed rollout, months before Swift played three nights at the city’s Soldier Field in June 2023.
Enforcement of the new Illinois laws will fall to Attorney General Kwame Raoul, whose office backed the junk-fee measure as a clarification of the state’s Consumer Fraud Act.Music Business Worldwide
