Ticketmaster is back in the hot seat. The Federal Trade Commission, joined by a bipartisan group of state attorneys general, filed a lawsuit against the ticketing giant and its parent company Live Nation, accusing them of illegally inflating ticket prices and deceiving both fans and artists.
The FTC says Ticketmaster advertises artificially low ticket prices, only to add hidden fees later, and falsely claims to impose strict ticket-buying limits. In reality, the agency alleges, Ticketmaster works with ticket brokers who use fake accounts and bots to scoop up tickets in bulk. Those tickets are then resold — often on Ticketmaster’s own platform — at steep markups, generating even more fees for the company.
With control of 80% or more of major U.S. concert venues’ ticketing, Ticketmaster dominates the live event market. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in California, follows years of mounting criticism. Lawmakers and fans have been angry since Ticketmaster’s meltdown during Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour presale in 2022, when bots and overwhelming demand crashed the system.
This case could be the most significant challenge yet to Ticketmaster’s dominance — and one that could reshape how Americans buy event tickets.
