The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and seven U.S states are suing Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, over illegal ticket resale practices and deceptive pricing strategies. The agency also alleged that the ticketing platform allows brokers to obtain tickets and resell them at an inflated price, “costing consumers billions of dollars in inflated prices and additional fees.”
At least one university student says a settlement can’t come too soon.
“I am angry about the price markups,” said junior forensic science student Mia Zullo. “I am overpaying for tickets and it is upsetting. I agree with the FTC. I wish Ticketmaster was more transparent so I wouldn’t overspend on tickets anymore.”
In a recent press release, the federal agency outlined a list of accusations against Ticketmaster that explained the alleged deception, scams and illegal tactics of the company.
Joined by the Attorney Generals of Virginia, Utah, Florida, Tennessee, Illinois, Nebraska and Colorado, the FTC claims that the practices of the ticketing site violate their “prohibition on deceptive acts or practices in the marketplace,” and the 2016 Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act. This act prohibits “circumvention of a security measure, access control system, or other technological control measure used online by a ticket issuer,” and “selling or offering to sell an event ticket obtained through such a circumvention violation if the seller participated in, had the ability to control, or should have known about the violation.”
The first set of claims alleged that the company easily allows brokers to purchase tickets and resell them on their site, causing customers to purchase overpriced tickets and allowing brokers to profit from markups and additional fees, despite security measures they have implemented. They said an internal review showed “just five brokers controlled 6,345 Ticketmaster accounts and possessed 246,407 concert tickets to 2,594 events,” and in response to brokers purchasing excessive amounts of tickets, a senior Ticketmaster executive admitted that the companies “turn a blind eye as a matter of policy.”
The next set of claims focuses on the alleged lies and deception customers encounter when purchasing tickets through the site. The claims said “Ticketmaster deceived the American people by advertising list prices for tickets that were substantially lower than the actual cost consumers paid after fees and markups were added.” The FTC also alleged that despite telling customers that they know the “full cost of their tickets from the start,” they still use deceptive pricing tactics, aware that if customers knew the true cost of their tickets upfront, they would be less likely to purchase them.
In a statement, Andrew N. Ferguson, FTC chair, said, “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.”
Ferguson also mentioned a March executive order signed by Pres. Donald Trump that was aimed at targeting ticket price-gouging.
The discourse surrounding ticket prices is not new. Discussion of scrutiny surrounding Ticketmaster and Live Nation began gaining traction in 2022 during ticket sales for pop star Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, where not only did Ticketmaster’s website crash due to the high demand of tickets, but consumers also saw ticket resales reaching highs of over $20,000. Since then, concert goers such as Zullo have expressed their distaste towards the ticketing company and have demanded something be done about their practices.
Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino also said how he thinks concert tickets should be more expensive. “Music has been under-appreciated,” he said. “In sports, I joke it’s like a badge of honor to spend 70 grand for a Knicks courtside [seat]. They beat me up if we charge $800 for Beyoncé.”
He continued to compare concert tickets to basketball games. “We have a lot of runway left,” he said. “So when you read about ticket prices going up, the average concert price is still $72. Try going to a Laker game for that, and there’s 80 of them. The concert is underpriced and has been for a long time.”
Ticketmaster has not yet officially responded to the claims of the FTC. The case is ongoing and will be decided by the U.S District Court for the Central District of California.
