Utah News Dispatch
Utah joins five states, FTC suing Live Nation and Ticketmaster over hidden ticket fees
Live Nation and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster, make up the largest ticketing company in the country, serving as the primary ticketer for 80% of major concert venues. (Photo by zamrznutitonovi/Getty Images)
The state of Utah is suing Live Nation and Ticketmaster over the cost of the tickets they sell, alleging hidden fees and disingenuous resale enforcement are driving up costs for consumers.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California claims Live Nation and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster, make up the largest ticketing company in the country, serving as the primary ticketer for 80% of major concert venues. Plus, according to the lawsuit, its share of the secondary ticketing market is growing.
Now, according to the complaint, Live Nation is raking in billions from mandatory fees on all its sales — but not until customers reach the end of the transaction, when after being shown a deceptively low price, the cost of their ticket spikes.
Or, even though the event appears to still have seats left, customers find it’s actually sold out and are shuffled to a secondary market where they are forced to pay even more, despite Live Nation and Ticketmaster claiming they limit the number of tickets a buyer can claim in order to prevent scalping, the lawsuit claims.
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According to the lawsuit, Live Nation and Ticketmaster profit first when the secondary seller purchases the ticket, and then the companies get additional revenue when the ticket is resold.
From 2019 to 2024, Ticketmaster generated over $11 billion in revenue from mandatory fees and an additional $986 million in resale fees, the plaintiffs claim.
Florida, Illinois, Virginia, Nebraska, Tennessee and Colorado have also joined Utah in the lawsuit, which alleges Live Nation and Ticketmaster have violated the Better Online Ticket Sales Act and the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act, as well as laws in other plaintiff states.
In a news release, the Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection and the Utah Attorney General’s Office said Live Nation and Ticketmaster fees make up 24% to 44% of consumers’ total ticket price.
“Live Nation and Ticketmaster have systematically eroded consumer trust by deliberately misrepresenting ticket costs. By hiding mandatory fees and misleading customers about ticket limits and security measures, they have not only violated consumer protection laws but also undermined the integrity of the ticket purchasing experience,” said Margaret Woolley Busse, executive director of the Utah Department of Commerce, in the release.
As an example, the complaint includes screenshots of the customer experience purchasing tickets to see popular Puerto Rican rapper, singer and songwriter Bad Bunny at the United Center in Chicago in March 2024. A customer purchasing two tickets at $245 apiece — $490 combined — would ultimately be charged $662.21, or 23% more than the listed price.
“Smaller and lighter text next to the total price indicates that this final cost includes $60.96 in tax. But the page has not displayed the remaining $111.04 in mandatory fees (a $45.20 service fee on each ticket, a $6.00 facility charge on each ticket, and an order processing fee of $8.85),” the lawsuit states.
When it comes to Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s measures to prevent buyers from purchasing more than the limited number of tickets that artists have set, the lawsuit claims the companies have knowingly allowed resellers to bypass those restrictions since at least 2018.
“Today Utah is stepping up, cracking down on these deceptive tactics, to make sure everyone can get seats to their favorite shows without being victimized,” Utah Attorney General Derek Brown said in the release.
