My friends and I were recently having a conversation about “value,” comparing tribute (cover) bands versus some of the classic rock bands whose members are in their 70s and 80s today. Years ago, the best entertainment value was sports games and music concerts.
Read below as to why those times are long gone!
In September 2025, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), joined by 8 states, filed a landmark lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent, Live Nation!
Accusations include:
1. Deceptive Business Practices
2. Tacit Collusion with Ticket Brokers (Scalpers)
3. Profiting at the Expense of Fans
The same week the lawsuit was filed, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in a class-action lawsuit trying to force Live Nation to arbitrate claims about “Rigged Ticket Pricing!”
Most consumers don’t really care about these legal matters; they care about what happens when they try to purchase tickets with exorbitant charges, such as “handling fees.”
My question is, what are “handling fees” since all ticket pricing and transactions are handled by a computer algorithm, with paper tickets no longer being accepted at most concert venues and sports arenas?
According to the FTC complaint, Ticketmaster (Live Nation) handles roughly 80% or more of primary ticket sales (A Monopoly?) for major U.S. venues! Their dominance gives them huge leverage as to how tickets are sold, how many reach customers (end users), and how many get funneled to secondary markets, often at massive markups.
For example, Ticketmaster allows brokers to buy huge blocks of tickets even though there are rules about how many tickets a person can buy! Ticketmaster gets double fees as the brokers pay a fee to buy their blocks of seats, then Ticketmaster gets a 2nd fee when the broker resells the ticket! GREED is NOT GOOD!!!
The complaint stated that a broker bought 772 tickets to a recent Coldplay concert for $81,000, then resold those tickets for over $170,000. Think about kids crying because they can’t get tickets while the brokers and Ticketmaster are laughing all the way to the bank!
Some of the mechanics of greed include, but are not limited to:
1. Hidden “junk” Fees: Ticketmaster advertises reasonably priced tickets, then adds extra fees at checkout (can be as high as 44%).
2. Broker Collusion: Turning a blind eye while brokers violate ticket maximum rules.
3. Triple Dipping: Ticketmaster makes money on the original sale in addition to the broker resale and again from fees when the tickets are resold on their own resale platform!
4. Deliberate Under-Disclosure: The complaint asserts that Ticketmaster intentionally resisted systems with ID verification that would curb the ability of brokers to “game” the system.
5. Bait and Switch: By advertising lower prices and adding fees later, the company is misleading consumers about the “all-in” net price!
Personally, this has a huge effect on my life as I’ve been to over one thousand concerts and continue to frequent concerts and sporting events almost weekly! We, as consumers, are in the same boat and should be angry about this.
Some things we fans should be looking for include:
1. Transparency: “All-in” pricing on the main screen up front.
2. Stronger Anti-Bot Controls: Industry tools that have been available, such as ID verification (2-step), to prevent ticket hoarding!
3. Alternative Models: Other ways to purchase tickets not from Ticketmaster.
4. Fee Caps: Ticketmaster should only be allowed a markup of a certain percentage over the ticket face amount.
This will be an interesting Ticketmaster lawsuit, and it could change the way tickets are purchased, we hope! When they started “Dynamic Pricing” about 3 years ago (meaning charging more per ticket for the Patriots and Bills games), I knew we were heading in this direction.
Stay tuned!