DC's ticket resale price cap law may impact StubHub's EBITDA by $95M

Washington, DC unanimously approved the RESALE Act on July 14, 2026, introducing a 10% resale price cap on concert and event tickets, according to a Citi analyst note.

The legislation includes five provisions: a 10% resale price cap, a ban on speculative ticket sales, full price transparency requirements, a prohibition on surveillance pricing, and stronger enforcement of ticketing regulations. The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.

DC is the third U.S. jurisdiction to enact such a law, following Maine in June 2025 and Vermont in May 2026. Together, the three jurisdictions cover approximately 1% of the U.S. population. Ontario passed a similar price cap law in April 2026, and combined with the three U.S. jurisdictions, the affected areas represent roughly 14% of the U.S. and Canada population.

State legislators in New York, California, Massachusetts, and North Carolina have introduced resale price cap proposals. If enacted in all four states, price cap laws would cover approximately 25% of the U.S. population, according to the analyst.

Citi's analysis indicates that secondary market tickets are currently sold at an average markup of approximately 65%. If markups are capped at an average of 15%, StubHub's revenue could decline by roughly 30%. The analyst estimates that if approximately 20% of StubHub's tickets are subject to resale price caps in 2027, the company's EBITDA could be reduced by approximately $95 million.

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