The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, accuses Ticketmaster and Live Nation of engaging in at least three distinct and broadly unlawful practices.
The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, claiming that the platform makes money off misleading customers, advertising attractive prices that often come laden with heavy fees.
According to National Public Radio, the attorneys general of Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia have all been named as co-plaintiffs in the complaint.
“American live entertainment is the best in the world and should be accessible to all of us,” Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “It should not cost an arm and a leg to take a family to a baseball game or attend your favorite musician’s show. The Trump-Vance FTC is working hard to ensure that fans have a shot at buying fair-priced tickets, and today’s lawsuit is a monumental step in that direction.”
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, accuses Ticketmaster and Live Nation of engaging in at least three distinct and broadly unlawful practices.
The first count states that Ticketmaster uses a “bait and switch approach” to sales, with initial offers appearing low but increasing, by way of fees, 30% or more before checkout. The FTC says that Ticketmaster has “reaped massive profits by misrepresenting the total price of tickets to consumers, who pay billions each year in mandatory fees not reflected in the list price.”
The government also claims that Ticketmaster, a recurring target for scalpers, actively tolerates re-sellers, permitting them to purchase thousands of tickets for single events, which are resold on secondary markets for significantly higher prices.
Ticketmaster and Live Nation, the FTC alleges, “knowingly allow, and in fact even encourage, brokers to use multiple Ticketmaster accounts to circumvent Ticketmaster’s own security measures and access control Systems,” in potential violation of the Better Online Ticket Sales Act.
The effect of these practices means that Ticketmaster “triple dip[s]” on fees: first when scalpers buy direct from Ticketmaster, then when they place them up for sale on the platform’s secondary market, and, finally, when the re-sold tickets are purchased for actual use by real fans.
Live Nation has characterized the lawsuit as misplaced.
“The DOJ’s lawsuit won’t lower ticket prices for fans or address the issues they care about—service fees and access to in-demand shows,” Live Nation told National Public Radio in a statement issued earlier this year. “The real problem is the secondary market where resellers drive up prices and siphon billions out of the industry, hurting both artists and fans.”
Sources
FTC sues Live Nation and Ticketmaster alleging illegal resale tactics
FTC sues Ticketmaster, Live Nation over alleged illegal ticket resale tactics and deceptive pricing
The FTC is suing Live Nation and Ticketmaster over ‘illegal ticket resale’ practices
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