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President Donald Trump was joined in the Oval Office by Kid Rock Monday for the signing of an executive order aimed at what the White House is calling “exploitative ticket scalping.”
The order calls upon the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice to “rigorously enforce” existing laws, so it’s not immediately clear what immediate effect the executive order might have on the ticketing industry.
Trump told reporters that he had been told by his friend Kid Rock about “scalping and all of the gouging that you’ve been reading about it… And I didn’t know too much about it, but i checked it out and it is a big problem. You’ve been trying to get this done for 20 years or something; he said ‘Trump got it done in two weeks.’ … I’ve spoken to him over the years about it, and it bothers him… The artists go out with a $100 ticket and it sells for $2,000 the following night.”
The order appears aimed at cracking down on bots more than setting limits on prices, but Kid Rock said he would like to see laws implemented that do put a cap on what resellers can charge.
“Ultimately I think this is a great first step,” said the rocker-rapper. “I would love down the road if there would be some legislation where we could actually put a cap on the resale of tickets. … I’m a capitalist and a deregulation guy, but they’ve tried this in some places in Europe, and it seems to be the only thing that allows us as artists to get tickets into the hands of fans at the prices we set.”
This executive order, which does not go nearly that far, was described by the White House as an action that “charges the FTC and Department of Justice with rigorously enforcing laws on the books, in collaboration with state attorneys general that have power over consumer protection, and other people who have power to really crack down on this issue, so that entertainers and fans won’t be subject to these abusive and oftentimes illegal practices.”
The order was endorsed by organizations from Live Nation to the National Consumers League.
“Scalpers and bots prevent fans from getting tickets at the prices artists set, and we thank President Trump for taking them head-on,” Live Nation said in a statement. “We support any meaningful resale reforms — including more enforcement of the BOTS act, caps on resale prices, and more.”
Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino issued a separate statement on his X account, tagging Trump and Kid Rock. “Big thank you to President Donald Trump for taking ticket scalping head-on which protects American consumers and artists,” Rapino wrote. “Scalpers and bots prevent fans from getting tickets at the prices artists set, which is why we support any meaningful resale reforms — including more enforcement of the BOTS act, caps on resale prices, and more.”
“It doesn’t matter your politics,” Kid Rock said, standing along Trump, one of the more outspoken conservatives in the music world, and a longtime supporter of the president. “Thank you, Mr. President, because this has happened at lightning speed… Anyone who’s bought a ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years, no matter what your politics are, knows that it’s a conundrum. You buy a ticket for a hundred bucks, by the time you check out it’s $170, you don’t know what you’re getting charged for. But more importantly, these bots — they come in and get all the good tickets to your favorite shows you want to go to, and then they’re relisted immediately for sometimes a 400 or 500% markup. And the artists don’t see any of that money.”
Trump is not the first president to pay attention to ticketing issues, as his predecessor, Joe Biden, charged the FTC with cracking down on “junk fees.” Under the Biden administration, the Justice Department sued Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation and asked the court to break up what was described as a monopoly.
One skeptic, industry blogger Bob Lefsetz, immediately weighed in on the order, saying it was effectively meaningless.
“Much ado about nothing. Grandstanding. A joke,” Lefsetz wrote. “In reality the order says nothing. Other than ticket scalpers make a lot of money and they must pay taxes on their revenue. … As for the BOTS act… It’s been on the books for years, but it’s been ineffective because there’s been no money/assets delegated for ENFORCEMENT! And in a government where Musk is cutting willy-nilly, where is the extra manpower to focus on…TICKET SCALPING?”
But Kid Rock’s approval for the action was firm that it is “a step” if not a final destination in changing practices.
“I’ll be the first one to say, and I know the president doesn’t like when I say this, but I’m a little overpaid right now,” said the singer. “It’s kind of ridiculous. I would rather be a hero to working-class people and have them be able to come attend my shows and give them a fair ticket price. I can’t control that right now so hopefully this is a step to make that happen.”
