Sen. Sawyer introduces North Carolina bill to oversee ticket sales and resale practices

State Sen. Vickie Sawyer has put forth a bill in the North Carolina Senate designed to boost transparency and crack down on misleading tactics in the sale of entertainment event tickets, as detailed by the North Carolina State Senate.

Designated SB 849 and filed on April 27 during the 2025 regular session, the measure carries the short title ‘Real Tickets, Real Fans Act.’

Here is a summary drawn from the bill’s language, including clarifying details from the text.

The act proposes a range of requirements for entertainment ticket transactions, mandating clear initial disclosure of the full ticket price, transparent listing of all required fees, seating information, and clear indication between primary sales and resales. The legislation bars speculative listings, reselling the same ticket more than once, unauthorized secondary market sales of presale and fan club tickets, misleading references to performers or venues, and the use of bots or multiple accounts to bypass online purchase restrictions or security. Penalties for violations include categorization as unfair trade practices with civil assessments up to $15,000 daily along with per-ticket fines, and steeper consequences for repeated or deliberate infringements. The measure instructs the attorney general to pursue and report enforcement actions and allocates $250,000 in recurring annual funding starting with the 2026-27 fiscal year for enforcement activities. Sections 1 and 2 become effective Oct. 1, 2026, targeting tickets sold from that point onward, while the rest of the act is effective July 1, 2026.

Among the bill’s three sponsors, Timothy D. Moffitt introduced the greatest number with 74 bills filed in the 2025 regular session.

In North Carolina, passing legislation involves a multi-stage process. The procedure begins when a legislator files a bill, which is sent to a committee for consideration. The proposal must be read three times in both the House and Senate, and if amended after passing in either chamber, both must agree to the changes. Once approved in identical form by both chambers, the bill advances to the governor, who has 10 days (or 30, if the assembly is not in session) to sign, veto, or allow it to become law without a signature.

Further information about current legislation is available here.

Sawyer earned her degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1997.

As a Republican, Sawyer was elected in 2023 to represent North Carolina’s 37th Senate district, succeeding Jeff Jackson in the state Senate.