The Federal Trade Commission and seven individual states sued concert and ticketing giants Live Nation and Ticketmaster on Thursday over allegations that the company is coordinating with ticket scalpers by allowing them to skirt limitations on ticket purchases so they can resell them at major markups on the secondary market.
In the 84-page suit, filed in federal court in California on Thursday, the FTC and the attorneys general of Virginia, Utah, Florida, Tennessee, Nebraska, Illinois and Colorado allege that Live Nation and Ticketmaster (both of which operate under parent company Live Nation Entertainment) “knowingly allow, and in fact even encourage, brokers to use multiple Ticketmaster accounts to circumvent Ticketmaster’s own security measures and access control systems” so that brokers can get “as many as thousands of tickets for a single event,” often for much higher than the original price depending on the event.
“Defendants’ illegal conduct frustrates artists’ desire to maintain affordable ticket prices that fit the needs of ordinary American families, costing ordinary fans millions of dollars every year,” the FTC’s suit said. “In public, Defendants maintain that their business model is at odds with brokers that routinely exceed ticket limits. In private, Defendants acknowledge that their 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.”
A representative for Live Nation and Ticketmaster didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.
The FTC alleged that Live Nation and Ticketmaster have violated the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, or BOTS Act, to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, stating that the company “gives purchasing consumers no choice but to resort to purchasing tickets at a steep markup in the resale market.”
The FTC also claimed that the company displays “deceptively low” ticket prices up front before showing higher prices at checkout, though Ticketmaster for the most part has shown all-in prices, including fees, from the start of a purchase since May.
The FTC alleged that the system allows Ticketmaster to “triple dip” on fees, collecting fees when ticket brokers first buy tickets on Ticketmaster’s primary market, as well as from both the broker and the consumer upon purchase on the secondary market. In the FTC’s press release, the agency claimed the tactics have cost consumers “billions of dollars in inflated prices and additional fees.”
“President Donald Trump made it clear in his March Executive Order that the federal government must protect Americans from being ripped off when they buy tickets to live events,” FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said in a statement Thursday. “American live entertainment is the best in the world and 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.”
This FTC suit comes a month after the agency sued Maryland-based ticket broker Key Investment Group on claims of a price-gouging scheme for live events including Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Trump, meanwhile, signed an executive order back in March calling for better enforcement of the BOTS Act, which has been enforced just once since it was signed into law in 2016.
Meanwhile, the FTC suit against Live Nation comes over a year after the Department of Justice sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster as well, alleging that the combined company is a monopoly and calling to break the company up. Live Nation has vehemently denied the allegations, calling the concert business competitive.