Regulators allege the ticketing giant colluded with scalpers to profit at fans’ expense.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued Live Nation and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster, accusing the ticketing giant of engaging in illegal practices that harm consumers.
The lawsuit, joined by seven state attorneys general, alleges the company knowingly profited from scalpers who used bots to bypass purchase limits and hoard tickets.
The FTC claims Ticketmaster then enabled these scalpers to resell tickets on its secondary market, allowing the company to “triple dip” on fees from the initial purchase, the broker’s resale, and the final consumer.
Furthermore, the complaint accuses Ticketmaster of deceptive “bait-and-switch” pricing, where advertised low prices balloon with fees at checkout, costing consumers billions.
This suit adds to the company’s significant legal challenges, following a major antitrust lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice in May.
