Why The FTC Is Taking Action Against Ticketmaster and Live Nation

Live Nation and its ticketing subsidiary, Ticketmaster, have been sued by the United States Federal Trade Commission.

Why Live Nation and Ticketmaster Are Being Sued

Details about the lawsuit, which were released by the commission on Thursday (Sept. 18), show the issue centers on operations that are buying up large amounts of tickets to events and reselling them for significantly increased prices.

The FTC says Live Nation and Ticketmaster are “tacitly coordinating with brokers and allowing them to harvest millions of dollars worth of tickets in the primary market.”

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The suit also alleges that while Ticketmaster had put security measures in place to stop the rampant resale of tickets, it was still happening.

The FTC also claims Live Nation and Ticketmaster deceived artists and consumers by engaging in bait-and-switch pricing through advertising lower prices for tickets than what consumers must pay to purchase tickets.” Most notably, the commission accuses the two of not being upfront about additional charges that are tacked on to the base ticket price.

Live Nation and Ticketmaster Have Faced Federal Scrutiny Before

The lawsuit is far from the first time Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s operations have come under fire from the federal level.

Reuters noted in a report on Thursday that Ticketmaster faced intense scrutiny “when billions of requests from [Taylor] Swift fans, bots and ticket resellers overwhelmed its website and the company canceled a planned ticket sale to the general public” for the pop star’s Eras Tour.

Additionally, the Department of Justice attempted to split Ticketmaster from Live Nation in a lawsuit last year, accusing the two of creating a monopoly in the live event ticketing industry.

Loudwire reached out to Ticketmaster for comment, but had not received a response at the time of this article’s publication.