Ticketmaster

Scrutiny of Live Nation and Ticketmaster has intensified in recent months as some consumer advocates and members of Congress renew calls for further ...

That led a federal judge in 2020 to extend the decree by 5½ more years and impose $10 million in fines and other costs against Live Nation. That led Ticketmaster to [cancel ticket sales](https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/taylor-swift-says-watching-ticketmaster-fiasco-excruciating-rcna57897) to the general public later. “I can’t see a good chance of establishing an antitrust claim with a severe page limitation for complaints, limitations on proof, and no discovery,” Szalai said in an email. Such lawsuits generally contend that Live Nation violates antitrust and consumer protection laws by forcing the country’s biggest venues into contracts to host premier live events that exclusively use Ticketmaster for ticket sales. High demand during presales purportedly reserved for “verified” fans crashed Ticketmaster’s website and left an “insufficient remaining ticket inventory,” the company said. Circuit Court of Appeals deemed Ticketmaster’s arbitration clause valid under the federal arbitration law and upheld the dismissal of the 2020 class-action suit. The Justice Department approved the move under a consent decree to prevent anti-competitive behavior, including prohibiting Live Nation from retaliating against events venues for using ticketers other than Ticketmaster. Many of those fans have sued Ticketmaster, claiming the fiasco was an orchestrated scheme by Ticketmaster to squeeze every last dollar from a captive public. That’s the nut that people have been trying to crack for years.” “Ticketmaster is a company that’s been able to keep itself, if not bulletproof, largely unscathed,” said Adam Wolfson, an Los Angeles-based lawyer representing the customers. [improbable gambit](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23739499-ticketmaster-motion-to-compel-arbitration)” that’s “wasting the Court’s time.” The argument, filed by a California man, an Ohio woman and two Florida residents, claims Ticketmaster quietly switched last year to an all-virtual, expedited arbitration process that amounts to a “Kafkaesque procedure” for customers.