Universal Attractions Agency, the talent agency behind this summer’s “I Love The 90’s: The Party Continues” tour, recently sued Ticketmaster for false advertising and unfair competition on the basis that they purposely misrepresented ticket prices, thus causing pitiful ticket sales and even show cancellations. Now, attorneys for Live Nation are pushing back on these claims, saying that the mishap is entirely the fault of the promoter.
The “I Love the 90’s” concert featured some of the decade’s biggest hip-hop stars, including TLC, Naughty by Nature, Blackstreet, and Biz Markie. UAA alleges that customers who logged onto Ticketmaster to buy tickets with a presale code were only shown prices for VIP premium tickets, which ranged from $250-$375. The lawsuit says customers were not offered regular seating, priced at $65, $75 and $150, effectively destroying General Admission sales. Sales were so bad in some cases, even, that tour dates were cancelled entirely; this happened at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT and Vino Robles in Paso Robles, CA. The latter only sold 7 VIP tickets and were forced to pay a $60,000 cancellation fee.
Ticketmaster’s attorneys deny any responsibility for the ticketing flop. They claim that those who only saw premium ticket prices had not yet entered their presale code; once the code was entered, all price levels were visible and available for purchase. They argue that this oversight was the fault of the promoter, not the ticketer.
Attorney Sandra A. Crawshaw-Sparks responded to UAA’s lawsuit by reiterating that “(Ticketmaster) has every incentive to sell as many tickets as possible. The notion that (Ticketmaster) would purposely sabotage their own ticket sales defies common sense”. The opposition went on to explain, “The IL90s tour did not sell as many tickets as (UAA) hoped…The remaining allegations do not support any of Plaintiff’s claims, and at best tell nothing more than a story of a promoter disappointed in its ticket sales.”
