United States of America: Federal Trade Commission and seven Attorneys General filed lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster over deceptive ticketing practices

On 18 September 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), together with the Attorneys General of Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Utah, the Utah Division of Consumer Protection, and the Commonwealth of Virginia, filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster. The complaint alleges violations of Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. § 45(a)) and the Better Online Ticket Sales Act (15 U.S.C. § 45c), as well as state consumer protection statutes, including the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, the Nebraska Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, and the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act. The plaintiffs seek a permanent injunction, monetary relief, restitution, disgorgement, civil penalties, and other remedies, citing deceptive ticket pricing, circumvention of posted ticket limits, and systematic violations of statutory prohibitions on resale practices. The complaint specifies that from 2019 to 2024 consumers spent more than USD 82.6 billion on tickets through Ticketmaster, paying over USD 16.4 billion in mandatory fees, while the defendants collected USD 986 million in resale fees, USD 3.7 billion in resale ticket fees, and more than USD 187 million in resale markups, with mandatory and resale fees exceeding USD 11 billion.