Ticketmaster and Live Nation sued for allegedly rigging the ticket market
Ticketmaster and Live Nation are in hot water as the FTC accuses them of colluding with scalpers and misleading fans. Here’s what’s at stake.
Live Nation Entertainment and its ticketing giant Ticketmaster are facing a landmark lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and attorneys general from seven states, accusing them of colluding with ticket brokers and misleading fans with deceptive practices. The complaint, filed in federal court in California, claims that the companies knowingly enabled large-scale resales that inflated ticket prices, while profiting at every stage of the process.
According to the FTC, the allegations span a five-year period between 2019 and 2024. Arguing that Ticketmaster allowed professional resellers to sidestep ticket limits by creating multiple accounts and using proxy servers, enabling them to scoop up vast amounts of tickets intended for ordinary fans. Those tickets were then relisted on Ticketmaster’s own platform at dramatically higher prices. The complaint goes further, accusing the company of using its own tools, such as its “TradeDesk” system, to make bulk resales easier and more profitable.
At the same time, Ticketmaster is accused of deceiving fans with hidden fees. Advertised ticket prices often appeared lower than the final cost, with mandatory service charges and facility fees added only at the final stage of checkout. Regulators say these practices created a bait-and-switch dynamic that left fans paying far more than expected. By looking the other way on resale abuses, the FTC alleges, Ticketmaster managed to “triple dip”, collecting revenue on the initial ticket sale, again on the resale, and once more on the added fees.
Between 2019 and 2024, consumers spent over $82 billion on tickets purchased through Ticketmaster, generating more than $16 billion in fees alone. Much of that spending came from frustrated fans who had little choice but to buy on the resale market after tickets sold out in minutes. High-profile debacles, such as the chaotic rollout of Taylor Swift tickets in 2022, only intensified public outrage and fueled calls for stricter oversight.
The lawsuit is built on both consumer protection laws and the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, which bans the use of bots or deceptive tactics to evade ticket purchase limits. If successful, the case could force Live Nation and Ticketmaster to change how they sell and resell tickets, including stricter enforcement of purchase caps, clearer pricing disclosures, and new restrictions on how resale platforms operate. Financial penalties and compensation for consumers are also on the table.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster have yet to issue a full response, though the companies have previously argued that bots and scalpers are an external problem, not an internal one. The FTC’s complaint, however, suggests otherwise, pointing to internal documents that indicate the company tolerated, and in some cases encouraged, practices that disadvantaged both artists and fans.