OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
12:07 PM – Tuesday, April 1, 2025
On Monday, singer-songwriter Kid Rock joined President Donald Trump at the White House as the president signed an executive order directing the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce the BOTS Act and take action against scalpers who illegally obtain expensive concert tickets in order to resell them.
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The BOTS Act, which was signed into law in 2016, made it unlawful to utilize automated bots or specialized computer programs to get around access control systems that restrict how many tickets a person may buy online for a well-attended performance.
Although the law was enacted to prevent bot-assisted attacks on well-known ticket sales, it has only been put into effect once.
The order instructs the FTC to “rigorously enforce the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act and promote its enforcement by state consumer protection authorities” and to “ensure that competition laws are appropriately enforced in the concert and entertainment industry” in collaboration with Attorney General Pam Bondi.
It also urges law enforcement to “take enforcement action to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market” and demands greater transparency around ticket prices. Additionally, it directs the attorney general and the secretary of the U.S. Treasury, Scott Bessent, to ensure that “ticket scalpers are operating in full compliance with the Internal Revenue Code and other applicable law.”
In addition, the order instructs the Treasury Department, the DOJ, and the FTC to deliver a detailed report within 180 days “summarizing actions taken to address the issue of unfair practices in the live concert and entertainment industry and recommend additional regulations or legislation needed.”
During the anticipated signing, Kid Rock thanked Trump for following through with the order, noting that it’s a great first step in cracking down on shady “bots” that “come in and…get all the good tickets for your favorite shows they want to go to, and they relist them, sometimes for a 400 to 500% markup.”
“We applaud President Trump’s Executive Order to protect fans from ticket scalping by individuals and companies built to fleece American consumers. We are also encouraged to see the order’s aim to remedy anti-competitive actions by large corporations. These actions will help address the two problems jeopardizing the well-being of artists, independent stages, and fans: a predatory, unchecked resale market where bots and deceptive practices price gouge fans and the Live Nation monopoly that forces small businesses to shut their doors,” The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) said in a statement.
“We want to thank Kid Rock for the education and advocacy he has provided policymakers on this critical issue. We urge Congress to heed his call to go further to protect artists in ticketing legislation, including a price cap on the resale market,” it continued.
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