(Gray News) – The Federal Trade Commission and seven states are suing Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment.
U.S. officials said the companies have failed to crack down on ticket resellers, who are “causing consumers to pay significantly more than the face value of the ticket” for popular concerts and events.
The FTC further alleges in the complaint that Ticketmaster and Live Nation deceived artists and consumers by engaging in bait-and-switch pricing, where customers often pay more than advertised, along with imposing “limits” on ticket purchases for fans while ticket brokers routinely exceed those limits.
“American live entertainment is the best in the world and should be accessible to all of us,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said. “It should not cost an arm and a leg to take the family to a baseball game or attend your favorite musician’s show.”
According to the FTC, Ticketmaster is the leading provider of tickets for concerts, controlling about 80% or more of major concert venues’ primary ticketing, along with a growing share of ticket resales in the secondary market.
From 2019 to 2024, consumers spent more than $82.6 billion purchasing tickets from Ticketmaster, officials said.
The FTC said the companies’ fees are also often hidden and not shown until the end of the purchase, with Ticketmaster collecting $16 billion in fees from 2019 to 2024.
“In private, Ticketmaster acknowledged that its 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,” the FTC shared.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Joining the lawsuit were the attorneys general of Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia.
Ticketmaster has been in lawmakers’ sights since 2022, regarding ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.
President Donald Trump also took aim at the industry earlier this year, signing an executive order directing U.S. officials to ensure ticket resellers are complying with Internal Revenue Service rules.