'Taylor Swift Act' signed by Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs will crack down on ticket resellers, bots

Arizonans can look forward to smoother ticket-buying experiences after Gov. Katie Hobbs signed two bipartisan bills aimed at cracking down on ticket resellers and bots.

One bill will prohibit the use of bots to purchase tickets in bulk and crack down on creating multiple email and IP addresses to purchase tickets and circumvent online queues or security measures. The other bill prevents resellers from selling multiple copies of one ticket, reselling tickets before they are made available to the public and not providing seat locations for tickets before purchase. Both bills were signed on Wednesday.

State Rep. David Cook, R-Globe, sponsored the bills and unofficially dubbed them the "Taylor Swift Act," a reference to Ticketmaster's website crashing in 2022 as fans tried to purchase tickets for her 2023 tour. Ticketmaster executives later said the crash was caused by bots flooding the site and attempting to purchase tickets for third-party resale.

Cook said he was inspired to introduce the legislation after unknowingly purchasing fraudulent concert tickets from a third-party site and reading articles about Swift's situation with Ticketmaster. He said he was even more motivated to pass the legislation after hearing public comments on the bills during committee hearings.

"There were people that came in that ran small facilities in our towns in Arizona and they had been victims of this very same thing," Cook said.

Live Nation, a primary ticket-selling platform, lauded Hobbs, Cook and Rep. Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix, in a statement supporting the legislation.

"We applaud Representatives Cook and Ortiz for leading this effort to protect fans in Arizona and allow them to shop with more confidence when purchasing tickets for their favorite team or artist," the statement read.

Third-party ticket resale sites like Vivid Seats and StubHub opposed the legislation, but Cook said the companies never gave him a good reason for their opposition. He said he wasn't concerned about whether the bills would impact business for the sites.

"These are not Arizona companies, they're not hiring Arizonans," Cook said.

Ortiz was a co-sponsor of both bills and worked on them with Cook. She said even though she signed onto a bill because she is a "Swiftie," the legislation is about protecting Arizonans.

"It's not about one artist, it's not about one sports team, it's about consumers saving money when things are so expensive," Ortiz said.

Although both Cook and Ortiz acknowledged that the legislation is about more than just Swift, Cook said he is working with the Governor's Office to invite her to a signing ceremony for the bills. He said Swift's team has shown interest in the invitation and he is optimistic she will participate.

A spokesperson for the Governor's Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment about a possible visit from Swift.

The bills will go into effect 91 days after the Legislature adjourns, likely sometime in late summer or fall.

Coming up: Latest Phoenix concert announcements: Fuerza Regida, Glass Animals, Orville Peck

Reach the reporter at rpriest@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Taylor Swift Act' signed by Gov. Hobbs will protect AZ ticket buyers