Photo Credit: Ajay Suresh / CC by 2.0

StubHub’s lobbying efforts have reached record highs in California as the company pushes against a bill that would cap resale prices.

StubHub has spent millions on lobbying efforts in California, reaching an all-time high as the company fights against a bill that would place limits on concert ticket resale prices. The ticket resale platform reported nearly $2.6 million in lobbying expenses in California between April and June, according to the Capitol Morning Report. That makes StubHub the second-largest lobbying spender in the state over the quarter, behind Pacific Gas & Electric.

The company’s intensified lobbying efforts target AB 1720, a bill that State Assembly Member Matt Haney introduced in February. If passed, the bill would limit concert ticket resale prices to no more than 10% above the ticket’s original price.

The bill has already been amended to limit its reach to only include venues with 3,000 seats or less, eliminating the bigger venues that typically draw most of the activity on secondary ticketing sites.

So far, AB 1720 has drawn support from groups representing artists and independent venues, such as the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO), the Future of Music Coalition, and the Music Artist Coalition. Notably, it’s also received support from Live Nation/Ticketmaster.

Supporters of the bill argue that adding a hard limit on secondary ticketing would serve as a major step in combating ticket scalping. But California isn’t the only state that’s looking at limiting resale prices. Maine, Vermont, and Washington, D.C. all passed price cap laws recently, while Massachusetts announced in July that it had a bill up for consideration.

The Massachusetts bill has seen support from singer-songwriter Noah Kahan, who appeared during a press conference held by Governor Maura Healey to announce the proposed law. He was also instrumental in raising awareness of the bill that passed in his home state of Vermont.

“The artist community and fans greatly benefit from limiting ticket scalping,” said Kahan. “I love my fans and I want to protect them however I can. Artists alone could not tackle the market manipulation of secondary resellers.”

But ticket brokers and resale platforms like StubHub, SeatGeek, and Vivid Seats have pushed back against price caps, as their business models are built on collecting fees attached to ticket sales. However, both SeatGeek and Vivid Seats have reported significantly lower lobbying expenses this year.

“They are staring into a future that does not allow them to make millions across the entire sector by price gouging consumers across the country,” says Stephen Parker, Executive Director of the National Independent Venue Association. “California is one of the biggest concert markets in the country. If California goes in terms of consumer protections around ticketing, we think the rest of the nation will soon follow.”

Meanwhile, StubHub’s lobbying efforts coincide with news of CEO Eric Baker’s connection to Andro Capital, a hedge fund that injects ticket brokers with the money to sell tickets on the platform en masse. Following a probe into the company last month, both Baker and StubHub were slapped with a class action lawsuit over allegations of fraudulent misrepresentation and violation of consumer protection laws.

“Their CEO is not just a platform operator; he’s also funding scalpers,” notes Parker. “They have a lot to lose.”