Revises provisions relating to the sale of tickets to a live entertainment event. (BDR 52-590)
SB338 revises Nevada’s laws governing the sale of tickets for live entertainment events and athletic contests. The bill requires ticket providers, including primary sellers, resellers, and secondary ticket exchanges, to clearly and conspicuously disclose the total price of a ticket before advertising or offering it for sale, while allowing only limited exclusions from that total price for governmental charges, shipping, and optional add-ons. It also requires disclosure of the nature, purpose, and amount of any excluded fee or charge, and prohibits ticket providers from misrepresenting fees, charges, or refundability.
The bill also creates a refund requirement for cancelled events: generally, ticket providers must refund the full amount paid, including fees and governmental charges, within 30 days after cancellation is publicly announced. The refund rule includes exceptions for certain force majeure-type cancellations and some outdoor events affected by extreme weather, if the ticket terms address those conditions. SB338 repeals an existing disclosure statute for ticket resellers and replaces it with broader requirements that apply to ticket providers generally, while also tying violations to Nevada’s deceptive trade practices and consumer complaint enforcement framework.
SB338 amends Chapter 598 of the Nevada Revised Statutes to expand and standardize ticket pricing and refund disclosures across the live entertainment ticket market. It repeals NRS 598.39795 and replaces it with new provisions that apply to a broader category of ticket providers, including primary sellers and resellers, and it updates related enforcement statutes so that knowing violations are treated as deceptive trade practices. The bill also authorizes the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection to receive complaints about these violations and preserves misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor penalties for knowing or willful violations in specified circumstances, while limiting private civil actions under the existing ticketing remedy provisions to the older statutes rather than the new sections.
The practical effect is to strengthen consumer protections around “all-in” ticket pricing and event-cancellation refunds, while aligning Nevada law with the Federal Trade Commission’s 2025 unfair or deceptive fees rule. Ticket sellers, resellers, and secondary exchanges would need to adjust advertising, checkout, and refund practices, and consumers would receive clearer upfront pricing and broader refund rights for cancellations, subject to the bill’s exceptions.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial in the legislative process. It passed the Senate unanimously 21-0 and the Assembly unanimously 42-0, indicating strong bipartisan agreement on the need for clearer ticket pricing and refund protections. The lack of recorded committee transcript discussion suggests there was little publicly documented opposition or debate at the committee stage.
The main policy tension in SB338 is between consumer transparency and the operational flexibility of ticket providers. Supporters would likely favor the bill’s all-in pricing requirements, anti-misrepresentation rules, and mandatory refunds as protections against hidden fees and unfair cancellation practices. Potential concerns could come from ticket sellers and event operators over compliance costs, the breadth of the disclosure rules, and the refund mandate, especially for cancellations caused by extraordinary events or weather. The bill addresses some of those concerns by allowing exclusions for governmental charges, shipping, and optional goods or services, and by creating exceptions for force majeure and certain outdoor-event cancellations.