The Federal Trade Commission and seven state attorneys general filed suit Thursday against Live Nation and Ticketmaster, alleging the companies quietly enabled high-volume brokers to scoop up primary tickets, then profited again when those tickets were resold at markups on Ticketmaster’s own marketplace—while hiding substantial fees from consumers until late in checkout.
In its complaint, the FTC says Ticketmaster dominates primary ticketing for major concert venues (about 80% or more), with consumers spending $82.6 billion on its platforms from 2019–2024. Publicly, the company blames “bots” and “big resale sites” for fans’ frustrations; privately, regulators allege, Ticketmaster acknowledged it benefits when brokers prevent ordinary fans from buying tickets at artist-set prices.
What the FTC alleges Ticketmaster did
- Bait-and-switch pricing: Showing deceptively low list prices, then adding mandatory fees—sometimes up to 44%—near the end of checkout. Internal messages described the approach as “bait and switch,” with a senior executive admitting the experience “sucks” without all-in pricing. The FTC says those hidden fees totaled $16.4 billion from 2019–2024.
- Ticket limits in name only: While telling artists and fans that strict per-event limits would keep access fair, Ticketmaster allegedly let brokers blow past those caps—sometimes buying thousands of tickets for a single event.
- “Turning a blind eye,” then triple-dipping on fees: A senior executive wrote that the companies “turn a blind eye as a matter of policy” to brokers violating limits; an internal review found five brokers controlling 6,345 Ticketmaster accounts and 246,407 tickets to 2,594 events. Regulators say Ticketmaster took fees at purchase, fees again at resale listing, and fees again from the fan who ultimately bought the resold ticket.
Beyond the complaint’s specifics, the FTC’s press release underscores a political tailwind: “the federal government must protect Americans from being ripped off when they buy tickets,” FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said, calling the filing “a monumental step” toward fairer prices for fans.
Why this matters—and how it fits Ticketmaster’s “blame the bots” narrative
Today’s case lands squarely on a pattern consumers know well: when presales melt down or prices spike, Ticketmaster routinely points to bots and scalpers. As TicketNews previously reported, Sen. Richard Blumenthal pressed Live Nation’s Joe Berchtold in 2023 on that framing—arguing the company rarely pursues or reports alleged violators despite constant claims that bots are to blame. Our coverage also highlighted broader concerns that industry practices (including holdbacks and scarcity tactics) drive prices and fan frustration far more than bots alone.
The FTC’s filing echoes that critique. It alleges Ticketmaster knew brokers were bypassing defenses by creating “thousands” of accounts and using proxy IPs; that it allowed those tickets to be listed on Ticketmaster’s resale platform anyway; and that it offered brokers tools like TradeDesk to manage large, multi-account inventories—all while rejecting tougher identity checks because they were “too effective.”
What the government is seeking
The complaint alleges violations of the FTC Act and the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act and asks the court for civil penalties and other monetary relief. The Commission vote to authorize the filing was 2-0-1 (Commissioner Melissa Holyoak recused). The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, joined by Virginia, Utah, Florida, Tennessee, Nebraska, Illinois, and Colorado.
Read the FTC’s Live Nation/Ticketmaster complaint in full:
