FTC Sues Ticketmaster and Live Nation Over Claims of Unfair Ticket Practices, NIVA and NITO Applaud Move

The Federal Trade Commission, joined by seven states, filed a major lawsuit on Thursday against Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster. The legal action accuses the companies of collaborating with ticket resellers to bypass purchasing limits and enable the resale of tickets at significantly higher prices. This move follows an earlier Department of Justice investigation and reflects growing federal interest in regulating the live events industry.

Filed in a California federal court, the complaint also alleges that Ticketmaster—a division of Live Nation Entertainment—engaged in deceptive “bait-and-switch” practices by advertising misleading initial prices to both artists and fans. The suit claims the defendants have reaped substantial profits by hiding the true cost of tickets, resulting in billions of dollars in concealed fees paid by consumers each year. Despite publicly endorsing “all-in pricing,” which shows full prices from the start, the company is said to have continued obscuring fees and creating artificial scarcity.

Additionally, the FTC contends that Live Nation and Ticketmaster imposed strict purchase limits on individual buyers while allowing professional resellers to use multiple accounts to hoard tickets unlawfully. This behavior allegedly violates the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act and allows the companies to profit at multiple stages: from initial bulk purchases, secondary market sales on their own platform, and final sales to consumers. As one industry analyst noted, “This represents a calculated manipulation of the market that ultimately hurts both artists and fans.”

Advocacy groups including the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and the National Independent Touring Organization (NITO) voiced strong approval of the lawsuit. Steven Parker, NIVA’s executive director, stated, “This legal action confirms longstanding suspicions that Live Nation and Ticketmaster use their integrated control over promotion, primary sales, and resale to undermine fair competition.” A NITO representative added that structural reforms are urgently needed to lower fees and improve ticket availability for real fans.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of an August case in which the FTC took action against Key Investment Group and affiliated entities—Epic Seats and Totally Tix LLC—for illegally acquiring and reselling tickets at exorbitant markups for high-demand events like Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour.” FTC Chair Andrew N. Ferguson emphasized the administration’s position, saying, “The President’s executive order signaled that intermediaries engaging in anticompetitive conduct would be held accountable.” In what some see as a response to heightened regulatory attention, Live Nation appointed Richard Grenell—a former Trump administration official and past head of the Kennedy Center—to its board in May, a move interpreted as an effort to navigate increasing government oversight.