Illinois Enacts Junk Fee Ban, Ticket Resale Rules in New Consumer Protection Package

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a package of consumer protection bills last week that includes a statewide junk fee ban, new restrictions on speculative ticket listings, and a prohibition on the use of bots to evade ticket purchase limits.

“Illinois is saying goodbye to junk fees once and for all, addressing abuses in the ticketing marketplace, and fighting for greater oversight and consumer protections,” Pritzker said in announcing the bill package.

The state, home to more than 12 million residents and a slew of venues for both sports and concerts, is one of many that took on the complex ticketing regulatory climate this year. Rather than following Live Nation’s legislative agenda and considering a hard price cap on ticket resale, the legislature there passed incremental modifications to its existing ticket regulations aimed at improving consumer transparency.

The most broadly applicable measure, HB 228, will require businesses to advertise or display the full price of goods and services inclusive of mandatory fees or surcharges, before taxes. The law takes effect January 1, 2027. For ticketing, that means vendors and resellers will not be able to advertise a ticket price that later increases through mandatory “processing,” “facility,” “service,” or similar fees at checkout.

Illinois’ law follows behind the FTC’s “junk fee” rule that went into effect in 2025, but applies more broadly across industries and incorporates the requirement into state consumer protection law.

Illinois also enacted HB 4984, which targets so-called “ghost ticketing,” a term commonly used for offers to sell tickets that the seller does not yet possess or have a contractual right to provide. The law, effective immediately, prohibits ticket resellers from offering tickets they do not have in physical or contractual possession.

Supporters of the measure framed it as a direct response to resale listings that can leave buyers uncertain whether the seller actually controls the tickets being offered. State Sen. Steve Stadelman, a sponsor of the ticketing measures, said consumers are often left “second-guessing whether an online ticket purchase is legitimate or just another form of deception in a crowded resale market.”

The measure is likely to be welcomed by venues, promoters, and primary ticketing interests that have lobbied extensively against such “speculative” listings, which they try to frame as fraud through deception, even if a marketplace clearly discloses that a listing is for tickets that have not yet been purchased by the seller.

Such marketplaces and ticket brokers have often argued that some forward-selling practices can be legitimate when sellers have reliable access to inventory, fulfillment guarantees, or established market-making operations. Some have argued that in an age of “dynamic” price fluctuation and held-back tickets, such listings are a benetit for consumers to lock in their purchase before inventory is released, avoiding their need to constantly enter massive online queues or monitor the box office for months for drip-distribution of new tranches of tickets.

Illinois’ new approach draws a firmer line by tying lawful resale offers to actual possession or contractual possession, eliminating the possibility of such procurement purchase offers.

A third ticketing measure, SB 318, bars the use of automated software to purchase tickets in excess of posted purchase limits. That provision takes effect January 1, 2027, and is aimed at bot-driven ticket acquisition that allows high-volume buyers to bypass limits intended to preserve access for ordinary fans.

Anti-bot laws are not new at either the federal or state level, but enforcement has remained a recurring challenge in the ticketing market. The federal BOTS Act, passed in 2016, prohibits circumvention of access-control systems used by ticket issuers and bans the resale of tickets obtained through those violations. State-level laws like Illinois’ SB 318 add another enforcement pathway and reinforce the legislative consensus that automated purchasing remains a consumer access problem.

Pritzker signed the bills at Concord Music Hall in Chicago, underscoring the live-event focus of the package. The governor’s office also highlighted support from Riot Fest co-founder Mike “Riot Mike” Petryshyn and Ravinia President and CEO Jeffrey P. Haydon, both of whom framed the measures as pro-consumer and pro-fan.

“At Riot Fest and Concord Music Hall, we’ve always believed fans deserve a fair and transparent ticket-buying experience,” Petryshyn said in the governor’s announcement. “These new protections help ensure people know exactly what they’re paying for and give real fans a better chance to get tickets.”

Ravinia’s Haydon called HB 4984 “a critical step toward protecting music lovers and ensuring a fair, transparent ticketing experience.”

The package also includes SB 3561, a buy-now-pay-later lending law that requires providers to register with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. That measure is less directly tied to ticketing, but it reflects a broader concern among policymakers over checkout-stage financial products, fee disclosures, and consumer debt.

For the live-event industry, the Illinois bills are another example of state lawmakers moving into areas where federal regulation has been uneven or limited. All-in pricing has now become a central policy goal across multiple jurisdictions, while speculative listings and bot enforcement continue to draw scrutiny from venues, artists, lawmakers, and consumer advocates.