A federal judge in California signaled he’s likely to allow millions of Ticketmaster customers to proceed as a class in an antitrust lawsuit accusing Live Nation Entertainment and its subsidiary of using monopoly power to boost ticket prices.
US District Judge George Wu took the motion for class certification under submission on Thursday (December 4) following a hearing.
Plaintiffs led by Skot Heckman, a Ticketmaster customer, sued the ticketing giant in January 2022 for allegedly engaging in secondary ticketing market manipulation, anti-competitive practices and consumer harm.
In the 2022 lawsuit, which you can read here, Live Nation and Ticketmaster were accused of secretly providing primary tickets to brokers through “ticket banks,” while publicly claiming to fight scalpers.
Live Nation allegedly forced brokers to resell exclusively on Ticketmaster’s platform or risk being blocked from buying primary tickets, and implemented technology that prevents ticket transfers except through Ticketmaster’s resale platform.
The company was also accused of inducing concert venue owners to enter into exclusive dealing arrangements “that can run into the millions of dollars.”
The complaint also alleged: “Ticketmaster’s market power in primary ticketing services is evidenced by the high and supracompetitive fees that it charges for such services, and the restricted output those fees cause.”
The company is accused of charging fees that can increase the price of a ticket to the consumer by 20% to 80% above face value.
Court House News reported on Thursday that class certification would give plaintiffs more leverage in settlement negotiations, as Live Nation could face billions of dollars in potential damages if the case goes to trial.
The plaintiffs reportedly want to represent all US consumers who bought primary tickets directly from Ticketmaster and paid service fees for events at major concert venues since 2010. That group could include “hundreds of thousands if not millions” of people, according to court filings.
Tim O’Mara, an attorney for Live Nation and Ticketmaster, argued that the plaintiffs couldn’t show all ticket buyers were harmed in the same way by the companies’ business practices. He said the plaintiffs’ expert analysis overlooked important differences like venue size, location, and individual fee agreements Ticketmaster made with each venue, Court House News reported.
O’Mara said: “You need to isolate the anticompetitive conduct. If this can be certified as a class, then any case can be certified.”
However, Court House News said Judge Wu didn’t seem interested to let questions about the plaintiffs’ economic analysis become the key factor in the decision at this stage of the case.
“You need to isolate the anticompetitive conduct. If this can be certified as a class, then any case can be certified.”
Tim O’Mara, Lawyer for Live Nation and ticketmaster
The judge reportedly said: “I don’t agree with you on the approach you’re taking… This is a motion for class certification.”
Judge Wu recently ruled in a separate case against Ticketmaster and Live Nation that Taylor Swift fans can move forward with most of their lawsuit against the ticketing giant over the 2022 ticket sale for the ‘Eras Tour.’
In 2022, a group of Taylor Swift fans, referred to as Swifties, sued the ticketing giant after demand outstripped supply during the presale for the Eras Tour.
The lawsuit claimed that, “millions of fans waited up to eight hours and were unable to purchase tickets as a result of insufficient ticket releases”.
Judge Wu on November 21 denied Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s motion to dismiss some claims in the lawsuit, while dismissing fraud, negligent misrepresentation and negligence claims without allowing further amendments. He granted the fans’ chance to revise their breach of contract allegations.
The lawsuits are just one of several legal challenges that the combined company faces over its market power in the live ticketing sector. Live Nation is also facing a lawsuit brought by the US Department of Justice in May 2024.
In late November, the company filed a motion asking for a quick end to the DOJ’s antitrust case, saying the lawsuit is based on “gerrymandered” evidence that doesn’t meet the legal criteria for monopoly power.
Separately, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster in a federal court in California, alleging that the company violated its own limits on batch purchases of tickets, as it profits from scalping activities.
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