The BOTS Act of 2016 bans circumventing a ticket seller's security or access controls to get around purchase limits, and reselling tickets obtained that way. Violations carry civil penalties up to $53,088 per violation, and the FTC's first enforcement in January 2021 ended in judgments over $31 million.
What the law bans, in plain language
The Better Online Ticket Sales Act, passed in 2016, does two things. First, it bans circumventing a ticket seller's security measures, access control systems, or other technological controls to buy tickets in excess of the posted limit. Second, it bans reselling tickets that were obtained that way. A violation counts as an unfair or deceptive practice under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which is what gives the law its teeth.
Note what it does not ban. Buying a lot of tickets legally, reselling tickets bought legally, and using a bot to buy tickets within the limit are all outside the statute. The law targets the circumvention, not the resale market as a whole, and that distinction is why enforcement is narrower than the headlines suggest.
The 2021 enforcement that set the pattern
The FTC's first BOTS Act case came in January 2021, against three ticket brokers who had used bots to buy more than 150,000 tickets from Ticketmaster, bypassing purchase limits and security checks. The judgments totaled over $31 million, with $3.7 million actually payable under the settlement terms. The case set the template: the FTC goes after the brokers running the operation at scale, not the individual fan with a script.
The law applies to events at venues seating 200 or more people, which covers nearly every concert, game, and show that matters. A small club show is outside the statute, but so is the bot problem: nobody runs a bot farm for a 150-seat room.
What the law does not cover
The BOTS Act does not require ticket sellers to use any particular anti-bot technology, and it does not create a private right of action for fans. A fan who loses out to bots cannot sue under the BOTS Act. Only the FTC, and state attorneys general under their own consumer protection laws, can bring a case.
It also does not touch the resale market itself. A ticket bought legally and resold at ten times face value is not a BOTS Act violation, however much fans hate it. The law is about how the ticket was obtained, not what it sells for afterward, and that gap is where most of the public frustration lives.
The 2025 executive order and the bill that would strengthen it
Executive Order 14254, signed March 31, 2025, directed the FTC to rigorously enforce the BOTS Act, among other ticket market measures. The order did not change the law, but it changed the enforcement posture, and the FTC has signaled that ticket bots are a priority again.
Senate bill S.196, introduced January 22, 2025, would go further: it would require ticket issuers to report circumvention to the FTC within 30 days of discovering it. That reporting duty would give the FTC a steady stream of cases instead of the occasional big one, and it would put the burden of detection on the sellers, who are the only ones who can see the bots in real time.
Keep reading
Related guides on this site: how queue hopping works with multiple tabs in the same queue how bots beat virtual waiting rooms how bots defeat ticket purchase limits More from Bot Protection For Ticketing.
Frequently asked questions
What does the BOTS Act prohibit?
It bans circumventing a ticket seller's security or access controls to buy tickets above the posted purchase limit, and reselling tickets obtained that way. It applies to events at venues seating 200 or more people.
What is the penalty for violating the BOTS Act?
Violations are treated as unfair or deceptive practices under FTC Act Section 5, with civil penalties up to $53,088 per violation. The FTC's first case in 2021 ended in judgments over $31 million against three brokers.
Does the BOTS Act apply to small venues?
No. The law applies to events at venues with a seating capacity of 200 or more. Smaller shows are outside the statute, though they rarely attract bot operations anyway.
Can I resell tickets I bought legally?
Yes. The BOTS Act targets how tickets were obtained, not resale itself. A ticket bought within the limits and resold at a markup is not a BOTS Act violation.