Tyson & Brother v. Banton

1927-03-07

Headline: Law limiting ticket resales to fifty cents above printed price struck down, freeing ticket brokers and theatregoers from New York’s resale cap and blocking state enforcement.

Holding: The Court held that New York’s law declaring theatre admission prices a public interest and capping resales at fifty cents above the printed price violated the Fourteenth Amendment and cannot be enforced.

Real World Impact:

Invalidates New York’s fifty-cent resale cap and blocks its enforcement.
Allows ticket brokers more freedom to set resale prices above the printed price.
Prevents criminal fines or jail under this statute for resales.

Topics: ticket resale, price limits, entertainment regulation, constitutional due process

Summary

Background

A New York ticket reseller that sells hundreds of thousands of theatre tickets a year sued to stop enforcement of a 1922 state law. The law declared admission prices to theatres and other entertainments a matter of public interest, required the sale price to be printed on each ticket, and made it a crime to resell a ticket for more than fifty cents above the printed price. The company said the law threatened its business, license, bond, and exposed officers and agents to criminal prosecution and heavy penalties.

Reasoning

The Court focused on whether places of entertainment and the resale business are "affected with a public interest" so the State may fix prices. Reviewing earlier cases, the majority said price-fixing power exists only where a business has a special, public character (for example, elevators, stockyards, or insurance) that justifies overriding private property and contract rights. The Court found theatres and ticket sales do not share those characteristics, and the statute forbade resale profits whether fraud existed or not. Because the law broadly invaded private property and contract freedoms without the special public interest required, the Court held it violated the Fourteenth Amendment and reversed the lower court.

Real world impact

The decision prevents New York from enforcing the fifty-cent resale cap and related criminal penalties against licensed ticket resellers. Ticket brokers may continue to resell at market prices unless the State enacts narrower, constitutionally tailored rules aimed only at fraud or collusion. The opinion also signals limits on price-fixing laws that broadly sweep in ordinary private businesses.

Dissents or concurrances

Several Justices dissented, arguing legislatures may regulate resale practices to prevent extortionate monopolies by brokers and that the record showed brokers had acquired control of the best seats, justifying regulation.