Dallas Observer34%
Dan Patrick takes aim at online ticket sales after World Cup woes 40%
By Austin Wood13%
7/31/2026, 6:00:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 23 faulty reasoning types, including Availability Heuristic, Anecdotal, and Framing Effect, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 26.5% saturation with 254 hits. Analysis detected 1,490 faulty-reasoning hits from 960 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 43.3% and a BS Rank of 40% (13,901 of 22,840 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 60.90% of the article peer group.
Texas Lt.
Gov.
Dan Patrick is targeting online ticket platforms after notable reports of unfair practices emerged during the World Cup.
A little over a week after Spain won the World Cup final in New Jersey, Patrick released a new crop of interim charges for Texas Senate committees Monday.
Along with asking state senators to review “religious liberty” and online protections for minors, the three-term lieutenant governor has tasked the Senate Business and Commerce Committee with investigating how to prevent “unfair online ticket sales practices.”
The charges are likely indicative of Patrick’s legislative priorities heading into the next session, which begins in January.
Interim charges are lists of issues which leaders of both chambers assign to committees for review between sessions.
In his charge to the committee, Patrick tasked lawmakers with investigating online ticket resale practices and identifying ways to improve consumer price transparency.
He also called on senators to find ways to protect Texans from unfair practices, “especially within the secondary market.”
“Consider what changes, if any, should be made to the state’s consumer protection laws to ensure a fair, competitive, and accessible live entertainment ticket marketplace,” Paxton’s charge reads.
The upcoming legislative session is scheduled to begin on Jan. 12 and will run through May 2027.
FIFA controversy
Patrick’s charge comes after ticketing controversies arose during the World Cup.
The world’s largest sporting event drew more than 631,000 fans to AT&T Stadium in Arlington for matches during its nearly month-long run, and generated $31 million in hotel revenue, according to a report from The Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau.
It was not cheap to watch the Beautiful Game in North Texas.
The Dallas Morning News reported ticket prices at Dallas stadium averaging close to $1,557 per ticket before the semifinal, when tickets sold on secondary platforms like StubHub and Ticketmaster could be found for a minimum of $1,600 before kickoff.
Face value tickets directly sold by FIFA for the Spain-France matchup ranged in price between $4,995 and $5,995, according to prior reporting by the El Paso Times.
The official tickets sold by FIFA drew fire from fans and officials for sky-high prices stretching well into the thousands.
This year’s tournament was the most expensive World Cup and overall sporting event in history, with European supporters telling The Athletic the sales represented a “monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup.”
FIFA has also been accused of misrepresenting seat assignments in the lottery process.
One fan, Dennis McGowan, told WFAA he had paid $350 to enter a lottery for mid-tier tickets, only to be seated in nosebleed seats at Dallas Stadium during the Japan-Netherlands match.
“Really, essentially, watch it on the big screen at Jerryworld tickets,” McGowan told WFAA.
“I feel like we got scammed.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced an investigation into FIFA over its pricing and claims of misleading seat assignment.
In a release, a spokesperson for Paxton said the attorney general's office had received multiple consumer complaints detailing issues with seating.
New York and New Jersey are pursuing similar investigations.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has defended the ticket prices as adapting to the American market, where sporting events are typically more expensive than in previous host countries.
However, he has largely sidestepped questions about state investigations and seating assignments.
Secondary sadness
While fans purchasing tickets through FIFA were dealt disappointing seats, others using online secondary markets failed to make it into the stadium altogether.
During the tournament’s run, dozens of reports circulated of fans being swindled on StubHub and other platforms, with some never receiving the tickets they paid for in the first place.
One fan, Rozina Taguchi, told the Observer her family had paid $1,500 for three tickets to the Japan vs.
Netherlands game on StubHub after months of anticipation.
The family was told to expect their tickets at least one day in advance, but on the morning of the game, the family still didn’t have them.
StubHub promised the family a refund or replacement tickets, but by the time Taguchi was aware of the problem, it was the morning of the match and only 1% of tickets were available, she was told.
Her group ended up missing the match, which she told the Observer “was going to be a great family opportunity.”
“It was just kind of a disaster,” Taguchi said.
But what happened to the family’s tickets?
StubHub told Taguchi that the seller had never handed over the tickets to the platform, an issue which plagued scores of other fans during the tournament.
The Dallas Morning News reported on the story of a woman who bought two tickets to the England-Croatia match seven months in advance for close to $2,000, only to never receive the tickets from StubHub.
Another couple only received replacement tickets after an investigation by WFAA.
The practice, known as “ghost ticketing,” is used by sellers who do not yet have tickets, but list seats on secondary markets to profit from markups.
While most plan to acquire the tickets eventually, some never do, leaving fans in the lurch after thousands of dollars and weeks of excitement.
Ghost ticket incidents “rarely” occur on StubHub, a spokesperson for the reseller told the Observer in June, adding that the company investigates the incidents and may ban sellers from the platform.
While it also made its debut in the secondary market for this year’s tournament, FIFA discourages fans from using third-party services due to the potential for similar ticketing issues.
The business and commerce committee will next meet on Sept. 30 at 9 a.m. in Austin.
Committees typically hear testimony, so lawmakers could very well hear more stories of bad actors and ruined World Cup dreams at the meeting.
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