The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), joined by seven states, on Thursday filed suit against Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. LYV and its subsidiary Ticketmaster, accusing the companies of facilitating illegal ticket brokering and deceiving consumers with hidden fees and resale practices.
The FTC argues that Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s conduct violates the FTC Act and the Better Online Ticket Sales Act. The commission is seeking civil penalties and other monetary relief.
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and passed on a 2-0-1 commission vote, with Commissioner Melissa Holyoak recused.
According to the FTC’s complaint, Live Nation and Ticketmaster allowed ticket brokers to bypass restrictions, purchase vast quantities of tickets in the primary market, and then resell them at significant markups.
These practices, the agency said, inflated costs for consumers and undermined fair access to live events.
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FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson tied the action to a March executive order from President Donald Trump, emphasizing that the government has a responsibility to protect fans from being “ripped off” when buying tickets. “American live entertainment is the best in the world and should be accessible to all of us,” Ferguson said.
“The Trump-Vance FTC is working hard to ensure that fans have a shot at buying fair-priced tickets, and today’s lawsuit is a monumental step in that direction.”
Ticketmaster controls about 80% of major concert venues’ primary ticketing business and has built a strong presence in secondary ticket sales. Between 2019 and 2024, consumers spent over $82.6 billion on tickets through its platform, the FTC noted.
The agency alleged that while Ticketmaster publicly claimed to oppose brokers who break ticket limits, the company privately acknowledged that brokers’ activity fueled its profits.
Internal documents revealed that executives “turned a blind eye” to violations. For instance, just five brokers were found to control more than 6,300 Ticketmaster accounts and nearly 250,000 tickets across over 2,500 events.
The complaint further accused Ticketmaster of providing tools to support brokers, including a software platform called TradeDesk, which aggregates tickets from multiple accounts for easier resale management. Internal records also showed that the company declined to use stronger verification technologies because they were considered “too effective” at reducing sales.
Another focus of the lawsuit is alleged bait-and-switch pricing. The FTC said Ticketmaster advertised lower prices than customers ultimately paid by hiding mandatory fees until checkout. Those fees, sometimes as high as 44% of ticket costs, generated $16.4 billion from 2019 to 2024.
Internal research showed that consumers were less likely to buy tickets when fees were disclosed upfront, yet the company continued the practice.
LYV Price Action: Live Nation Entertainment shares were down 1.11% at $162.85 at the time of publication on Friday. The stock is trading within its 52-week range of $102.32 to $175.25, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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