Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has joined six other state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission in a lawsuit to quell ticket scalping from Ticketmaster and Live Nation.
According to a release, the suit was filed in the Central District of California against Live Nation Entertainment and its subsidiary Ticketmaster. The lawsuit alleges Ticketmaster knew ticket brokers would buy thousands of tickets above the purchase limit, preventing fans from buying the initially offered tickets.
According to the release, brokers created hundreds of "bogus" accounts and used software to log into several accounts at once, hiding their location by using proxy IP addresses. The suit alleges Ticketmaster not only "turned a blind eye" but also sometimes "aided" brokers in reselling tickets at inflated prices.
Suit filed by DOJ, 30 states and District of Columbia calls for the giant firm to separate from Ticketmaster
Specifically, the suit alleges Ticketmaster violated the FTC Act, the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act and the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, as well as similar laws from other states. The FTC and attorneys general are seeking a permanent injunction to prevent violations from continuing as well as monetary penalties to be paid to the states for violations of their laws and to consumers, as the court sees fit.
“Tennessee wouldn’t be Tennessee without world-class live music from the mountains to the Mississippi," says Skrmetti in the release. "When consumers line up for a show, they should never have to compete with armies of scalpers scooping up hundreds of tickets at a time.”Â
“We’re fighting to level the playing field and get tickets back into the hands of real fans at fair prices.”
Live Nation is headquartered in Beverly Hills, Calif., and has offices across the country, including locally in Wedgewood-Houston. In May 2024, Skrmetti also joined a federal antitrust lawsuit against the ticketing and touring company.
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
