New SWIFTIE Act Targets Ticket Scalpers, Aims to Protect Fans from Exorbitant Fees

Wisconsin officials introduced a bipartisan bill today to fight unfair ticket prices. The Stop Wildly Inflated Fees and Ticketing Industry Exploitation (SWIFTIE) Act takes aim at high prices and unfair buying tricks.

The rules would make sellers list total costs up front and set strict limits on resale prices. Three state leaders — Sen. Kelda Roys, Sen. Jamie Wall, and Rep. Jill Billings — co-sponsoring the bill.

"If you're a fan, you deserve the chance to go see your favorite artist without being exploited by unscrupulous scalpers, by third-party bot farms that drive up prices and other practices that exploit fans and venues and artists," said Roys, per Fox47 News. "All of us deserve to come together and share these wonderful live events without these consumer protection violations."

The new act goes after resellers and bot farms. No computer program can snap up more than eight tickets to any show. Resellers can't list tickets they don't own yet, or sell before public sales start. Most importantly, it caps resale fees at just 10% above the initial price.

When things go wrong — fake tickets, canceled shows, or wrong details — sellers must give full refunds within 10 days. 

After President Donald Trump told the FTC to stop unfair sales tricks in March, more states started cracking down. Michigan's House blocked ticket bots in June 2025. Minnesota started guarding online buyers in 2024.

It's not only state governments stepping up. Last month, the Federal Trade Commission went after Live Nation and Ticketmaster for tricks that inflate ticket prices and hurt fans.

Under the new bill's provisions, breaking the rules would cost dearly. Each day of wrongdoing brings $15,000 in fines. Selling tickets illegally adds $1,000 per ticket plus five times the ticket cost. Some cases could see an extra $10,000 fine per ticket.