NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee's attorney general has joined a sweeping federal lawsuit targeting Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation, accusing the companies of allowing ticket scalpers to drive up prices and shut out ordinary fans.

The case, filed in California, alleges that brokers created fake accounts, used software to flood the system with logins and hid behind proxy servers to dodge detection. It also alleged that they then bought more tickets than allowed and resold them at inflated prices.

The complaint argues that Ticketmaster not only ignored the schemes but sometimes facilitated resale on its own platform. Lawyers argued that it violates the federal BOTS Act.

"Ticketmaster's history of bad actions is nothing new," Brandon Smith, a partner at political law firm Holtzman Vogel and former chief of staff of the Tennessee attorney general, said. "A lot of consumers remember this all happened when the Taylor Swift Era's tour ticket sales launched."

In 2022, massive technical issues plagued more than 3.5 million people who were trying to buy tickets for Taylor Swift's 2023 tour. The issues and high demand during the presale even prompted a cancellation of the originally planned public sale of tickets.

"It was a complete disaster," Smith said. "Instead of consumers and Swifties being able to buy tickets to the Eras Tour, they were outbid by bots and scammers who took the highest valuable tickets and then jacked prices up."

The issue prompted the Tennessee Attorney General Skrmetti to investigate Ticketmaster.

"What we later found out is that Ticketmaster knew this was happening, let this happen and actually profited after these scammers came in and distorted the market," Smith said.

The lawsuit also claims Ticketmaster violated Tennessee's Consumer Protection Act by promising to enforce purchase limits but failing to do so. It seeks injunctions to stop such practices and possible restitution for fans.

"It's really just about something very simple: transparency," Smith said. "Transparency in what you as a consumer have to pay, transparency in how venues and bookers promote concerts, and what will ultimately come to the benefit of consumers who want to go watch a concert in Music City."

Smith added that the outcome could mark "a sea of change" for the industry, given Ticketmaster's dominant 80% share of the concert ticket market.

The case will now move forward in federal court. Even if restitution is awarded, experts said fans should not expect refunds anytime soon.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-news/tennessee-joins-federal-lawsuit-against-ticketmaster-live-nation-over-scalping-claims/