The FTC and seven states sued Ticketmaster owner Live Nation on Wednesday. The lawsuit accused the company of knowingly allowing brokers to buy tickets in bulk. Ticketmaster allegedly then let them resell the tickets at a significant markup on its own second-hand market.
The FTC claims Ticketmaster was aware that resellers routinely bypassed its security measures for these purchases. The company profits three times from resales. It collects fees at the initial purchase, followed by both buyer and seller fees upon resale. Between 2019 and 2024, Ticketmaster raked in $16.4 billion in fees, according to the FTC.
The agency paints a picture of the company that epitomizes rampant corporate greed. The FTC claims an internal Live Nation review showed that five resellers alone harvested 246,407 tickets to 2,594 events. The agency accused Ticketmaster of admitting in an internal email that it “turn[s] a blind eye as a matter of policy.”
The company is said to even offer tech support to brokers through its TradeDesk app. The software is designed to consolidate and manage tickets purchased through multiple Ticketmaster accounts.
Ticketmaster also allegedly failed to implement third-party identity verification tools that could have prevented the bulk purchases. Why? The FTC quotes the company as saying these tools would have been “too effective.” The company is also said to have admitted to engaging in deceptive pricing. Their alleged reason: Customers were less likely to buy tickets when they saw the actual cost upfront.
The FTC accused Live Nation of violating two laws: the FTC Act’s ban on deceptive practices and the BOTS Act. The latter was signed by President Obama in 2016, just before leaving office. As its name suggests, it banned the use of bots or other software to obtain more tickets than is legally allowed. Earlier this year, President Trump issued an executive order to increase enforcement of the law.
The suit was filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California. Joining the FTC in the suit are Virginia, Utah, Florida, Tennessee, Nebraska, Illinois and Colorado.
