SB0318sam001 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. Steve Stadelman

Filed: 5/11/2026

10400SB0318sam001 LRB104 06435 SPS 37577 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 318

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 318 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Prohibition on Bots Purchasing Tickets Act.

Section 5. Definition. As used in this Act, "bot" means any automated software program that performs automatic and repetitive tasks and is designed to impersonate or replicate human activity online. "Bot" does not include auto fill or password management features built into an Internet browser or provided through separate software.

Section 10. Prohibition on automated online ticket purchasing.

(a) A person shall not use or create a bot to:

(1) purchase tickets in excess of posted limits for an online ticket sale;

(2) use multiple Internet protocol addresses, multiple purchaser accounts, or multiple email addresses to purchase tickets in excess of the posted limit for any single online ticket sale; or

(3) circumvent or disable an electronic queue, waiting period, pre-sale code, or other sales volume limitation system associated with an online ticket sale.

(b) An owner or operator of a place of entertainment that sells tickets to events, and any agent who conducts or facilitates those sales, shall report any known violation described in subsection (a) to the Attorney General within a reasonable period of time after discovery of the violation. The report shall include:

(1) a description of the violation;

(2) any available information about the individuals or entities involved in the violation; and

(3) any measures taken or planned to be taken to prevent further violations.

Section 15. Enforcement by Attorney General.

(a) The Attorney General may investigate a claim that a person violated this Act.

(b) If the Attorney General concludes that a person is violating this Act, the Attorney General may bring an action in the name of the People of the State to restrain or enjoin the person from violating this Act.

(c) In addition to bringing an action for injunctive relief under this Act, the Attorney General may seek restitution and petition a circuit court for the assessment of a civil penalty as provided by this Section.

(d) A person who knowingly violates Section 10 is liable for a civil penalty of not more than $2,000 for each violation.

(e) Every ticket transaction in which a ticket is acquired to be sold in violation of Section 10 constitutes a separate violation for purposes of assessing a civil penalty.

(f) The Attorney General may recover all reasonable costs of bringing an action under this Section, including court costs, reasonable attorney's fees, and investigation costs.

Section 90. The Ticket Sale and Resale Act is amended by adding Section 1.6 as follows:

(815 ILCS 414/1.6 new)

Sec. 1.6. Consumer protections for ticket sales.

(a) As used in this Section:

"Operator" means a person that owns, operates, or controls a place of entertainment or that promotes or produces entertainment and that sells a ticket to an entertainment event as the first sale of the ticket.

"Ticket issuer" means any person who makes tickets available, directly or indirectly, to the general public, and may include:

(1) the operator of the venue;

(2) the sponsor or promoter of an event;

(3) a sports team participating in an event or a league whose teams are participating in an event;

(4) a theater company, musical group, or similar participant in an event; or

(5) an agent for any such person.

"Ticket resale marketplace" means a person that operates a platform or exchange for the resale of tickets between third parties or between the ticket resale marketplace and a third party. "Ticket resale marketplace" includes a ticket issuer only to the extent the ticket issuer is acting to facilitate the resale of tickets between third parties or between the ticket issuer, acting as a ticket resale marketplace, and a third party.

"Ticket reseller" means a person engaged in the resale of tickets.

(b) A ticket resale marketplace or ticket reseller shall not make any false representation that is likely to mislead a reasonable consumer into believing that the marketplace or reseller is affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of an artist, team, event venue, or event organizer. The use of an artist, team, venue, or event name solely to identify the event for which a ticket is offered for resale shall not, by itself, constitute a violation of this Section.

(c) An operator or ticket issuer shall disclose the number of tickets for an event that are withheld from sale any time it offers tickets for that event for sale.

(d) A violation of this Section constitutes an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. All remedies, penalties, and authority granted to the Attorney General or the State's Attorney by the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act shall be available to the Attorney General or the State's Attorney for the enforcement of this Section.

Section 95. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act is amended by adding Section 2MMMM as follows:

(815 ILCS 505/2MMMM new)

Sec. 2MMMM. Violations of the Ticket Sale and Resale Act.

(a) Any person who violates Section 1.6 of the Ticket Sale and Resale Act commits an unlawful practice within the meaning of this Act.

(b) The provisions of Section 10a do not apply to a violation of this Section.".