On September 18, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a lawsuit in the Northern District of California against Live Nation, the nation’s largest live entertainment company, and its wholly owned subsidiary Ticketmaster for allegations that they failed to disclose mandatory fees until checkout and illegally coordinated with ticket brokers and deceived consumers and artists in the process in violation of FTC Act and the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act. The FTC was joined by seven states, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia, which represents a bipartisan group of state attorneys general and other state agencies that brought claims under both the BOTS Act and state consumer protection laws.
This action comes a month after the FTC announced a lawsuit against a ticket broker operation for allegedly using unlawful tactics to circumvent Ticketmaster’s ticket purchasing limits. The FTC has now accused Live Nation and Ticketmaster of assisting brokers with evading those very same purchase limits. This new action by the FTC represents an ongoing effort to police what the FTC has characterized as “kitchen table issues” that affect American families. More actions against participants in the ticket markets could well be on the horizon.
Allegations Against Ticketmaster
The complaint makes allegations against Live Nation and Ticketmaster that fit into three broad categories. First, the FTC alleges that Live Nation and Ticketmaster deceptively advertised the tickets they offered to consumers by failing to advertise the “all in” price, including mandatory fees, until checkout. The FTC alleges that Live Nation and Ticketmaster failed to include these fees, which were as high as 44% of the total ticket prices, until the very end of the purchase process and never clearly disclosed the details of the extra fees before consumers paid for tickets. The FTC points to internal documents that allegedly show this was a deliberate strategy by company executives despite claiming publicly that the company supported consumers knowing the full cost of tickets from the start.
According to the FTC, this conduct violates Section 5 of the FTC Act’s prohibition on unfair and deceptive acts and practices. Notably, this allegation would also appear to violate the FTC’s Rule on Unfair and Deceptive Fees announced in December 2024, which we wrote about here. That rule became effective on May 12, 2025. The FTC’s failure to allege violation of this rule signals that Live Nation and Ticketmaster likely changed their practices before the rule’s effective date.
Second, the FTC alleges that Live Nation and Ticketmaster deceptively told both consumers and artists that the company strictly imposes ticket limits for its events. The FTC says that Live Nation and Ticketmaster publicly blamed ticket brokers and bots for fans being unable to access tickets at the prices set by artists while at the same time knowingly participating in the ticket brokers’ unlawful conduct. The FTC alleges that this conduct also violated Section 5.
Finally, the FTC alleges that Live Nation and Ticketmaster coordinated with the ticket brokers to evade Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s own ticket-purchase limits. The FTC alleges that Live Nation and Ticketmaster:
- Were aware that their implemented security measures were routinely bypassed by brokers who created thousands of Ticketmaster accounts to evade ticket-purchase limits.
- Consciously decided to avoid deploying additional technology to stop brokers from evading these ticket-purchase limits because they would be too effective and decrease revenue.
- Offered technological support to brokers through software that allows brokers to aggregate tickets purchased through multiple accounts for simpler resale on secondary markets.
- Allowed brokers to resell tickets illegally obtained by brokers on Ticketmaster’s secondary market platform, profiting from additional fees and markups from the additional sales.
This conduct, the FTC says, violated the BOTS Act.
Cooperation with State AGs and Agencies
Each of the states that joined the FTC brought claims under the BOTS Act, and six (all but Virginia) also brought claims under their consumer protection statutes. In the current political climate, it is somewhat unusual to see an enforcement group represented by both Republican and Democratic state attorneys general offices. This signifies that when consumer protection issues hit consumers in their wallets, we will likely continue to see bipartisan support.
The involvement of the states in this action is also notable for the increased ability of the litigating entities to obtain civil penalties, consumer redress, and damages for all the conduct alleged. Although the FTC can seek civil penalties of $53,088 for each violation under the BOTS Act, it cannot seek financial remedies for the Section 5 allegation. In contrast, many states allow for financial penalties and consumer redress for the conduct underlying the Section 5 allegations under their state consumer protection laws. As a result, the state plaintiffs can recover monetary damages for conduct that the FTC could not recover itself.
Internal Emails Support FTC’s Case
In the announcement of the case against Live Nation and Ticketmaster, the FTC cites internal emails documenting statements of company executives. For example, the FTC alleges that a senior Ticketmaster executive admitted in an internal email that Ticketmaster and Live Nation “turn a blind eye as a matter of policy” to the violation of posted ticket limits by brokers. The FTC also alleges that internal company documents stated that in 2021, Live Nation and Ticketmaster opted against the use of third-party identity verification because the technology was “too effective.”
Conclusion
The announcement of this case against Live Nation and Ticketmaster signals that the ticket marketplace is going to continue to be an area of scrutiny under the Trump-Vance FTC. The action notably follows the March 2025 Combating Unfair Practices in the Live Entertainment Market Executive Order that directed the FTC to “ensure price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process” and “rigorously enforce the [BOTS Act]” and promote its enforcement by state consumer protection authorities.
Companies that operate in the ticket space should be aware of the continued scrutiny in this area and take steps now to ensure compliance with the BOTS Act and state consumer protection statutes. In particular, companies should take steps to:
- Ensure that prices advertised to consumers at all stages of the purchasing process are accurate and include all mandatory fees.
- Ensure statements made to artists and the public accurately reflect the company’s policies and practices.
- Evaluate whether tickets being bought or sold on company platforms have circumvented ticket-purchase limits and respond appropriately.
If you have any questions, or would like additional information, please contact one of the attorneys on our Consumer Protection/FTC team.
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