(NewsNation) — The Federal Trade Commission and a bipartisan group of state attorneys general are suing Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, accusing them of misleading fans and artists with deceptive pricing.
The lawsuit argues Ticketmaster collaborates with ticket resellers to bypass its own ticket-purchasing limits. It also claims the company advertises prices lower than what customers actually pay and misrepresents the number of tickets available.
The complaint — filed Thursday by the FTC and attorneys general from Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia — argues “ticket brokers often buy as many as thousands of tickets for a single event, denying ordinary fans the opportunity to purchase them at the prices artists set.”
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The lawsuit alleges the company collaborated with brokers who use fake accounts to purchase tickets and resell them on Ticketmaster’s resale sites, sometimes adding up to 44% in extra fees on top of ticket prices, resulting in $16.4 billion in “added fees” between 2019 and 2024.
The lawsuit also cites violations of the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, which was created to curb large ticket purchases through automation or bots.
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FTC chair Andrew Ferguson condemned the practices and said live entertainment should be affordable for Americans.
“American live entertainment is the best in the world and should be accessible to all of us,” he said. “It should not cost an arm and a leg to take the family to a baseball game or attend your favorite musician’s show.”
Ticketmaster, which controls more than 80% of major U.S. concert venues, has already faced legal pressure this year when a judge rejected Live Nation’s bid to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit brought by the Biden administration and 30 states.
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President Donald Trump has previously taken action on price gouging. In March, alongside musician Kid Rock, Trump ordered the FTC to ensure “price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process” and to prevent anti-competitive conduct.
Darryl Cohen, former chair of the entertainment and sports law section of the Georgia State Bar, said it may not be long before Ticketmaster faces the music.
“If I were to be able to predict it, I would say more attorneys general are going to jump on the bandwagon, and Live Nation is going to feel that they’re not only on the hot seat, but it’s burning underneath them,” he said. “They’re going to have to do something to mollify and pacify the public.”
NewsNation reached out to Ticketmaster and Live Nation for comment and has not yet received a response.
