By Anne Steele

President Trump signed an executive order Monday aimed at cracking down on ticket-price gouging and other exploitative practices by middlemen like ticket brokers, calling for stronger enforcement of consumer-protection and tax laws.

The new order, which he signed with musician Kid Rock by his side, aims to combat high ticket prices by going after professional ticket brokers that use bots to snap up large quantities of face-value tickets to the most in-demand events and resell them at high mark ups.

"Anyone who's bought a concert ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years, no matter what your politics are, knows that it's a conundrum," said Kid Rock, who wore a red, white and blue sequined outfit and sunglasses. Bots "come in to get all the good tickets to your favorite shows you want to go to, and then they're relisted immediately," for huge markups that don't benefit artists, he said.

The White House said the order aims to ensure greater price transparency at all stages of the ticket-buying process. Today, consumers typically buy tickets on platforms like Ticketmaster and can resell or buy tickets secondhand on platforms such as StubHub.

The order directs the Federal Trade Commission to more rigorously enforce existing law governing the use of bots that help scalpers scoop up hot tickets, including by issuing fines. Trump said the FTC, along with the Treasury and Justice departments, will deliver a report within 180 days summarizing what they have done to address unfair practices in the live-events business and recommend more regulation or legislation to protect consumers.

The Justice Department last year sued Ticketmaster parent Live Nation, alleging that it is a monopoly that uses its power to unfairly squelch competition, retaliate against those in the industry that threaten its dominance and drive up ticket prices. Live Nation has said that it doesn't have a monopoly in ticketing or concert promotion and that it doesn't set prices.

The price of concert tickets in the U.S. has skyrocketed in recent years, fueled in part by post-Covid demand for live events. The White House said that the nation's live concert and entertainment industry supports over 900,000 jobs and has an economic impact of $132.6 billion.

Earlier this month, StubHub, which allows fans and professional brokers to buy and sell tickets for concerts, sporting events and other live entertainment, filed for its initial public offering.

Write to Anne Steele at anne.steele@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 31, 2025 19:02 ET (23:02 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.