- Utah, the Federal Trade Commission and six other states sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation for deceptive practices.
- The lawsuit alleges hidden fees and misrepresented ticket prices that violate consumer laws.
- Ticketmaster allegedly encouraged brokers to bypass security, inflating secondary market prices.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah, the Federal Trade Commission and six other states on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation, alleging the entertainment and ticketing companies hide fees and misrepresent ticket prices.
The 84-page lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, also alleges Ticketmaster encouraged brokers to circumvent the website's enforcement measures to sell "millions" of tickets on the secondary market.
"Anyone who has ever tried buying concert tickets, only to get hit with a pile of sneaky fees at the checkout, or perhaps even find out the show is actually 'sold out,' knows how frustrating it is to buy tickets with Ticketmaster or Live Nation. Today, Utah says 'no more.' It is all too common for fans to get funneled to shady ticket brokers who charge jaw-dropping prices — way beyond what artists ever intended," a statement from Utah Attorney General Derek Brown said.
The state is alleging that Live Nation and Ticketmaster display low ticket prices to consumers, only to add additional fees at checkout, averaging from 24% to 44% of the total ticket price.
From 2019 to 2024, consumers across the country paid a whopping $16.4 billion in mandatory fees to Ticketmaster, while the company generated over $11 billion in revenue from these fees over the same timespan.
"Ticketmaster dwarfs its competitors," states the lawsuit. "The company controls roughly 80% or more of major concert venues' primary ticketing for concerts and a growing share of ticket resales in the secondary market."
The lawsuit also says that, since at least 2018, Live Nation and Ticketmaster offered to sell and sold millions of secondary market tickets acquired by brokers who circumvented their enforcement measures.
This led consumers to pay hundreds of millions more for these tickets sold on the secondary market than they cost on the primary market.
"Ticketmaster's game of bait-and-switch, cozying up with unscrupulous scalpers, inflates costs and leaves fans frustrated," Brown said. "Today, Utah is stepping up, cracking down on these deceptive tactics, to make sure everyone can get seats to their favorite shows without being victimized."
Utah and the Federal Trade Commission were joined in the lawsuit by Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, Virginia and Tennessee.
The lawsuit also includes multiple counts alleging "deceptive and unconscionable sales practices in violation of the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act," including:
- The two companies misrepresent the true price of tickets to consumers by failing to disclose all mandatory fees until the final stage of the transaction.
- The companies falsely represent that they imposed strict ticket limits for individual events.
- The companies misrepresent the security measures used to enforce posted event ticket limits or to maintain the integrity of posted online ticket purchasing rules.
The plaintiffs are also alleging that Ticketmaster and Live Nation have earned hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue by "systematically violating" the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, which prohibits selling or offering to sell tickets previously purchased in circumvention of measures used to enforce posted ticket-purchase limits or purchasing rules, according to the lawsuit.
"Rather than enforce their ticket limits and purchasing rules against brokers, defendants knowingly allow, and in fact even encourage, brokers to use multiple Ticketmaster accounts to circumvent Ticketmaster's own security measures and access control systems," said the lawsuit.
"Live Nation and Ticketmaster have systematically eroded consumer trust by deliberately misrepresenting ticket costs. By hiding mandatory fees and misleading customers about ticket limits and security measures, they have not only violated consumer protection laws but also undermined the integrity of the ticket purchasing experience," said Margaret Woolley Busse, executive director of the Utah Department of Commerce, in a statement.
"Our Division of Consumer Protection plays a vital role in ensuring transparency in pricing," she continued. "We are committed to protecting consumers from deceptive practices and unnecessary fees. We are taking action to hold Live Nation and Ticketmaster accountable and restore fairness in the marketplace."
