Relating to regulating sales of admission tickets to entertainment events.
HB 3167 updates Oregon’s ticket-seller law to target online ticket resale practices that interfere with fair access to entertainment-event tickets. The bill expands and clarifies definitions for terms such as “admission ticket,” “entertainment event,” “ticket seller,” “reseller,” “operator,” and “venue,” and it expressly excludes trade shows from the definition of entertainment event. It also applies to tickets for events in Oregon regardless of where the sale occurs or how the ticket is marketed or paid for.
The core policy change is a prohibition on willfully selling or using software designed to bypass ticket-purchase limits, security measures, access controls, or other systems intended to ensure equitable distribution of tickets, including presales. It also bars selling tickets obtained through such software. In addition, the bill prohibits unauthorized use of venue- or event-related domain names and websites that mimic or imply affiliation with an operator, venue, performer, promoter, or sponsor, while carving out protections for authorized users and making clear that seating charts and seat-view images are not, by themselves, prohibited. Violations are treated as unlawful trade practices under Oregon’s consumer protection laws, enforceable through existing civil remedies, and the changes apply to sales or offers made on or after January 1, 2026.
The bill amends ORS 646A.115 and extends Oregon’s consumer-protection framework to cover ticket-bot software, deceptive ticket websites, and misleading domain names used in connection with entertainment-event ticket sales. It creates new statutory restrictions on resellers, ticket sellers, operators, promoters, and others involved in ticket distribution, while preserving lawful authorized branding and informational uses. Because violations are designated unlawful practices under ORS 646.608, the law exposes violators to enforcement actions and remedies already available under Oregon’s unfair trade practices statutes.
The bill appears to have broad support overall, passing the House and Senate with comfortable margins and unanimous or near-unanimous committee votes in the Senate after amendments. The voting history suggests a general consensus in favor of curbing ticket-bot activity and deceptive resale practices, with the final Senate vote unanimous and the House concurrence also strong. The amendments and referral history indicate some policy refinement, but not major opposition to the bill’s overall purpose.
The main points of contention likely centered on how far the state should go in regulating ticket resale technology and online marketing, especially the scope of the software ban and the restrictions on domain names and websites that resemble official event or venue branding. Potential concerns would come from resellers, ticketing intermediaries, and digital marketers about overbreadth, enforcement, and whether legitimate resale or fan sites could be swept in. The bill addresses some of those concerns by limiting the ban to willful conduct, requiring prior written authorization for certain uses, and expressly exempting licensed or otherwise authorized parties as well as seating charts and seat-view images.