The Federal Trade Commission launched a lawsuit against Live Nation and its parent company Ticketmaster, accusing the corporations of making millions of dollars through illegal sales activities.
The agency said inflated ticket prices and additional fees had taken billions out of consumers’ pockets, and that the businesses had cut deals with sales businesses that were contrary to the law.
Listing a total of seven specific charges, the FTC said in a statement: “The Federal Trade Commission and seven states sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster for tacitly coordinating with brokers and allowing them to harvest millions of dollars worth of tickets in the primary market.
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“Live Nation and Ticketmaster then sell the illegally harvested tickets at a substantial markup in the secondary market, causing consumers to pay significantly more than the face value of the ticket.
“The FTC further alleged in a complaint that [the corporations] deceived artists and consumers by engaging in bait-and-switch pricing through advertising lower prices for tickets than what consumers must pay to purchase tickets; deceptively claimed to impose strict limits on the number of tickets that consumers could purchase for an event, even though ticket brokers routinely and substantially exceeded those limits; and sold millions of tickets, often at much higher cost to consumers, on its resale platform that those brokers obtained in excess of artists’ ticket limits.”
The statement also included the allegation that “in public, Ticketmaster maintains that its business model is at odds with brokers that routinely exceed ticket limits.
“But in private, Ticketmaster acknowledged that its business model and bottom line benefit from brokers preventing ordinary Americans from purchasing tickets to the shows they want to see at the prices artists set.
FTC Boss Says Ticketmaster Lawsuit Is Monumental Step
Citing its duty to “protect Americans from being ripped off when they buy tickets to live events,” FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said: “American live entertainment… should be accessible to all of us. It should not cost an arm and a leg to take the family to a baseball game or attend your favorite musician’s show.
“The… 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 is supported by the Attorneys General of Virginia, Utah, Florida, Tennessee, Nebraska, Illinois and Colorado.
Ticketmaster controls 80 percent or more of major venue ticket sales and also has a strong presence in the secondary market. The agency claimed that consumers spent $82.6 billion with the corporation from 2019 to 2024.
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