{"id":7879,"date":"2025-09-19T01:39:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T01:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/ftc-sues-ticketmaster-and-live-nation-over-deceptive-practices-justia-news-september-18-2025\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T01:39:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T01:39:23","slug":"ftc-sues-ticketmaster-and-live-nation-over-deceptive-practices-justia-news-september-18-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/ftc-sues-ticketmaster-and-live-nation-over-deceptive-practices-justia-news-september-18-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"FTC Sues Ticketmaster and Live Nation Over Deceptive Practices \u2014 Justia News \u2014 September 18, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On September 18, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation, alleging widespread deceptive business practices that have cost consumers billions of dollars. The lawsuit, joined by seven states, accuses the companies of deliberately misleading consumers about ticket prices and enabling scalpers to bypass purchase limits.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleges that Ticketmaster employs a \u201cbait and switch approach\u201d to ticket pricing. According to the complaint, the company advertises tickets at artificially low prices, then adds substantial mandatory fees at checkout that can increase the total cost by 30% or more. Consumers paid over $16.4 billion in mandatory fees on ticket purchases from Ticketmaster in the last five years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Internal company tests cited in the complaint found that consumers were less likely to purchase tickets when shown the true cost upfront. A 2015 company study found that \u201ccompletely hiding the fee until checkout resulted in the highest conversion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Artists often set ticket purchase limits to ensure fans can buy tickets at face value prices. However, the FTC alleges that Ticketmaster knowingly allows scalpers called \u201cbrokers\u201d to exceed these limits by using multiple accounts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lawsuit details how brokers routinely create hundreds or thousands of fake Ticketmaster accounts to purchase tickets in bulk. In one documented case, just five brokers controlled 6,345 Ticketmaster accounts and possessed 246,407 concert tickets to 2,594 events.<\/span><\/p>\n

The FTC alleges that Ticketmaster violates the Better Online Ticket Sales Act by selling tickets that were purchased in violation of posted limits. The company \u201ctriple dips\u201d on fees by collecting money when brokers initially buy tickets, when they list them for resale, and when consumers purchase them on the secondary market. From 2019 through 2024, Ticketmaster charged $3.7 billion in fees on resale tickets.<\/span><\/p>\n

The complaint reveals that Ticketmaster provides brokers with a software platform called TradeDesk, which helps them manage tickets purchased through multiple accounts. This platform is only available to high-volume brokers and allows them to aggregate thousands of tickets from hundreds of accounts into a single interface.<\/span><\/p>\n

This FTC lawsuit follows a separate antitrust case filed by the Department of Justice and 30 states in 2024 seeking to break up Ticketmaster and Live Nation over concerns about their monopolistic control of the live entertainment industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Additional Reading<\/b><\/p>\n

FTC sues Live Nation and Ticketmaster alleging illegal resale tactics<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>NPR <\/span><\/i>(September 18, 2025)<\/span><\/p>\n

FTC Sues Live Nation and Ticketmaster for Engaging in Illegal Ticket Resale Tactics and Deceiving Artists and Consumers about Price and Ticket Limits<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Federal Trade Commission<\/span><\/i> (September 18, 2025)<\/span><\/p>\n

Image Credit: <\/b>NRSPro \/ Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n