Raleigh, NC — For anyone who has ever rushed online the moment concert tickets went on sale, only to watch seats disappear in seconds and then reappear minutes later on resale sites for double or triple the price, North Carolina lawmakers say they have a solution.

Senate Bill 849, known as the “Real Tickets, Real Fans Act,” is a new piece of proposed legislation in North Carolina aimed at cracking down on deceptive ticket resale practices, speculative ticket listings, and automated bots that make it harder for real fans to buy tickets at face value. Introduced in April 2026 with bipartisan support, the bill reflects growing frustration from artists, independent venues, and consumers who say the current ticket marketplace has become increasingly unfair and confusing.

At its core, the legislation is designed to make ticket buying more transparent and to stop practices that lawmakers and venue operators say mislead consumers and inflate prices.

What the bill would do

One of the biggest targets of Senate Bill 849 is speculative ticket sales.

Speculative selling happens when a reseller lists tickets for sale before they actually own or possess those tickets. In some cases, sellers attempt to acquire the tickets after making a sale to a consumer. If they cannot secure them, the buyer may end up with invalid tickets or no tickets at all.

The proposed law would make this practice illegal in North Carolina.

Supporters argue this closes a major loophole that allows questionable sellers to profit while leaving fans vulnerable to scams and disappointment. According to local venue operators, this problem has become more common as unofficial ticket marketplaces grow more sophisticated in how they present listings.

The bill would also require greater pricing transparency.

Ticket sellers would have to clearly display the full cost of a ticket, including fees, upfront rather than surprising buyers with hidden service charges during checkout. This mirrors broader national efforts to force more honest pricing disclosures across the live entertainment industry.

For fans, this means seeing the true cost of attendance immediately instead of discovering inflated final totals after selecting seats.

A crackdown on deceptive resale sites

Another major focus of the legislation is deceptive marketing by secondary ticket sellers.

Some resale websites are designed to closely resemble official venue or artist ticketing pages. They may use event names, venue branding, or search engine optimization tactics that make consumers believe they are purchasing directly from an official seller.

Under Senate Bill 849, ticket resellers would need to clearly identify themselves as resale marketplaces and could not misrepresent their relationship to artists, venues, promoters, or official box offices. Sellers would also be required to provide a direct link to the primary ticket source when available.

This provision is intended to help buyers make informed choices and avoid paying unnecessary markups simply because they landed on a misleading website.

Fighting bots

Perhaps the most fan-friendly aspect of the bill is its attempt to curb the use of automated purchasing bots.

Ticket bots are software programs designed to buy large numbers of tickets within seconds of release, often faster than human buyers can complete a purchase. Those tickets are then resold at inflated prices on secondary marketplaces.

The federal BOTS Act of 2016 already prohibits certain forms of automated ticket buying, but enforcement has been inconsistent. North Carolina’s proposal would strengthen protections at the state level by explicitly banning bot-driven purchases tied to entertainment event ticket sales.

For small and midsized venues, this could be especially important.

Operators across North Carolina have reported cases where shows appear sold out almost instantly, only for large numbers of tickets to appear on resale platforms at steep markups. Some venues also report partially empty rooms because speculative resellers fail to move all the tickets they acquired or advertised, resulting in lost concession revenue and diminished audience energy for performers.

Why local venues are backing it

Independent venues and North Carolina artists have become some of the strongest supporters of the Real Tickets, Real Fans Act.

Venue owners say fraudulent and inflated resale listings hurt more than consumers. They also damage trust between venues and audiences. Fans who arrive with fake or invalid tickets often blame the venue, even when the purchase happened through an unauthorized reseller.

For smaller spaces operating on tight margins, even modest disruptions can hurt business.

When fans lose confidence in the ticketing process, they may think twice before buying tickets to future events. That hesitation can directly affect local music ecosystems that depend on repeat attendance and strong fan relationships.

What happens next

As of May 2026, Senate Bill 849 is still moving through North Carolina’s legislative process and has not yet become law. It will need committee review, votes in both chambers of the General Assembly, and the governor’s signature before taking effect.

Still, its bipartisan backing and strong support from artists and venues suggest it has momentum.

If passed, the Real Tickets, Real Fans Act could make North Carolina one of the more aggressive states in protecting concertgoers from deceptive ticketing practices.

For music fans, that could mean a simpler promise. When tickets go on sale, real people would have a better shot at buying real tickets at real prices.