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FTC Sues Live Nation and Ticketmaster Over Alleged Ticket Resale tactics

Ticketmaster and it’s parent company, Live Nation entertainment, have long been the target of ire from musicians and⁣ concertgoers alike⁢ due to their use of hidden fees and the prevalence of ticket scalpers on their platforms.⁤ Last year, under President Joe Biden, the United States Justice Department ‍ sued Live Nation, alleging that the company holds a monopoly in the concert market.Now, the Federal Trade Commission and ⁤seven states are filing suit against the concert giant for allegedly violating the FTC Act and the Better Online Ticket Sales Act by knowingly collaborating with secondary market brokers to spike ticket prices.

The FTC’s lawsuit, filed this morning (Thursday, September 18) in a California court, alleges that Live Nation has falsely claimed to place caps on the number of tickets an individual can purchase for an event, while resellers are⁣ able to circumvent those limits ‍by creating “thousands” of Ticketmaster accounts. A software platform called TradeDesk, also owned by Live Nation, then allows brokers to track tickets across multiple accounts simultaneously, allowing‍ for easier resale.

According to internal⁤ emails ‍reportedly obtained by the FTC, Ticketmaster and live Nation are able to identify which brokers are⁤ exceeding the posted ticket limit for a given event, but have rather opted ⁤to, in the alleged words of a senior executive, “turn ⁤a⁣ blind eye as a matter⁤ of policy.” ⁣Allegedly, the companies also declined to implement technology, such as third-party verification, that⁤ would prevent mass ticket scalping for‍ being, according to one email cited in ⁣the lawsuit, “too effective.”

“american ⁤live entertainment is⁢ the best in the world and should be accessible to all of us,” FTC chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said in a