How many of us have been personally victimized by Ticketmaster? If you are a fan of music, sports, comedy or attending live events of any kind, chances are you have used (and likely had a bad experience with) the platform. As the world’s largest ticket marketplace and a leading global provider of ticketing solutions, Ticketmaster has become the go-to outlet for finding seats to your favorite events. Nevertheless, the corporation is once again in legal trouble. This September, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a formal lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, alleging that both companies consistently engage in illegal and deceptive ticket sale practices at the expense of fans and artists.
Ticketmaster is no stranger to legal trouble and reputational damage; most recently, in May 2024, Live Nation was sued by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in an antitrust case claiming that it had monopolized the live events market. Live Nation and Ticketmaster control roughly 80% of primary ticketing for all major concert venues, and the DOJ’s ongoing case argues that the companies unlawfully exercise their monopoly power. This year’s latest FTC lawsuit claims that Ticketmaster and Live Nation intentionally mislead consumers about ticket prices and cooperate with scalpers to drive up resale prices, causing fans to regularly pay more for tickets. Several states, including Colorado, Florida, Illinois and Nebraska, have joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs.
In this lawsuit, the FTC outlines three main illegal practices used by Ticketmaster. Firstly, it is alleged that the company engages in a “bait-and-switch” tactic in the primary sale market, meaning it initially lists deceptively low ticket prices, only to increase the cost by more than 30% at checkout due to hidden fees. Secondly, the FTC alleges that Ticketmaster knowingly allows — and even encourages — scalpers to exceed the limits on how many tickets can be purchased at once. Typically, artists restrict the number of tickets a single customer can buy to ensure more fans have access. However, there are allegedly ways to bypass these limits, enabling resellers to buy hundreds or even thousands of tickets and then sell them for inflated prices on Ticketmaster’s secondary resale market. One broker reportedly purchased more than 9,000 tickets for a single concert during Beyoncé’s 2023 “Renaissance Tour,” after which Ticketmaster resold more than 2,500 of them. Finally, the FTC claims that Ticketmaster benefits from this system by “triple-dipping” on fees: first when resellers buy tickets in the primary market, again when the tickets are listed on the resale market and finally when fans buy them secondhand.
Ticketmaster’s incentive to do all this? The higher the ticket price, the more Ticketmaster can collect in fees. From 2019 to 2024, the FTC estimates that Ticketmaster has charged $3.7 billion in fees on resale tickets alone.
In recent years, more and more Ticketmaster users have expressed frustration with how operations are run, fueling the lawsuit. Many claim that securing tickets to popular shows has become nearly impossible. This was put on display during Ariana Grande’s “Eternal Sunshine Tour” presale, where some fans reported being 1.2 millionth in line to buy tickets for venues that hold a maximum of 20,000 people. Fans also saw an exponential surge in prices on the secondary resale market, with nosebleed tickets starting at $500. The issue gained so much attention that Grande herself addressed it in a statement on Instagram.
In a letter obtained by Forbes, Live Nation Executive Vice President Daniel M. Wall wrote to lawmakers that Ticketmaster plans to limit users and ticket brokers to only one account. The company said that the policy will be enforced through identity verification and AI-powered screening in an effort to get more tickets into the hands of real fans. The letter also stated that Ticketmaster will not allow ticket brokers to exceed ticket resale limits and will immediately shut down TradeDesk, a tool the FTC alleged helps scalpers scam fans. Live Nation also called the claims made by the FTC “categorically false,” noting it would make “no economic sense.”
This lawsuit is ongoing and has yet to go to trial or reach a settlement.