Ticketmaster are once again in bad press and with Live Nation in tow they’re looking at a class-action lawsuit.

Citing the fact that Ticketmaster’s market share exceeds “70% of primary ticketing services for major concert venues”, customers are taking the ticketing service to court. It feels like groundhog day whenever we write about Ticketmaster.

Olivia Van Iderstine and Mitch Oberstein have submitted the complaint to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, indicting Live Nation in the ticketing monopoly as the two companies merged in the last decade. They state – from personal experience I will attest, truthfully – that “Ticketmaster charges supracompetitive fees made possible by its dominant market position”.

They are arguing over exorbitant prices which are pumped up by service fees on top of their already high prices on behalf of customers. They also seem to be arguing in defense of venues who Ticketmaster are selling for, claiming they have “regularly threatened venues with less (or no) Live Nation Entertainment tours if they did not select Ticketmaster as their primary ticketing service provider”.

Their entire filing goes on for 72 pages describing in detail the business practices of both events companies and explaining the case against them. Ticketmaster did make a surprisingly approvable move last month, making ticket refunds available for certain postponed events which will no longer take place thanks to COVID-19.

Both companies are looking at very difficult months to come financially with their business essentially coming to a standstill of profit for the foreseeable future. Another lawsuit is certainly not what they need.