Ticketmaster is the largest ticket sales and distribution company in the United States. There have been accusations that Ticketmaster buys tickets to popular events through their own marketplaces and then resells them at much higher prices. This controversial practice is known as ticket scalping or ticket brokering.
The accusations against Ticketmaster
In recent years, many customers have accused Ticketmaster of buying large quantities of tickets to concerts and sporting events and then reselling those same tickets at significant markups on their resale sites like Ticketmaster Resale and Ticket Exchange. This practice would allow Ticketmaster to profit twice on the same ticket sales.
Some key accusations include:
- Tickets to popular events sell out almost instantly, suggesting Ticketmaster holds back tickets.
- Tickets appear on Ticketmaster’s resale sites at higher prices soon after sell outs.
- Tickets on the resale sites are often listed in blocks rather than singles, indicating a single large buyer.
- Ticket limits per customer are not strictly enforced on initial ticket sales.
A number of class action lawsuits have been filed against Ticketmaster on the basis of these accusations. Plaintiffs in the lawsuits allege violation of ticket purchasing limits and abuse of Ticketmaster’s market position.
Ticketmaster’s response
Ticketmaster has strongly denied accusations that it buys and resells its own tickets. Some key points made by Ticketmaster in response include:
- Ticketmaster does not have control over how quickly tickets sell out since that depends on artist and event demand.
- Tickets are made available on the resale market by fans and other third party ticket brokers, not Ticketmaster itself.
- Block seat resale listings are from season ticket holders and other large ticket holders, not Ticketmaster purchases.
- High demand and low ticket supply naturally leads to higher resale prices.
Ticketmaster says the ticket resale market is a completely separate entity from its initial ticket sales. They claim to have strict separation between their primary and resale marketplaces.
Evidence Ticketmaster is reselling tickets
Despite Ticketmaster’s claims, there is some evidence to suggest they are engaged in ticket brokering practices:
- In a 1992 PBS documentary, Ticketmaster employees were filmed describing how they resold tickets. “We’re brokers, we’re brokers just like anybody else,” said one salesman.
- A 1994 Los Angeles Times investigation found over half the tickets for a Lollapalooza concert were allocated to Ticketmaster brokers.
- In the mid 2000s, Ticketmaster paid $18.2 million to settle lawsuits over distributing tickets to its brokers before public sales.
- A 2019 CBC News undercover investigation revealed Ticketmaster representatives buying tickets and reselling them at large markups.
This history points to a pattern of Ticketmaster allocating tickets to be resold through their broker channels. The more recent allegations indicate this practice likely continues today despite their statements to the contrary.
Why Ticketmaster may engage in ticket brokering
There are a few motivations Ticketmaster may have for reselling their own tickets if the accusations are true:
- Double profits – Ticketmaster takes fees on the original ticket sale, then earns additional profit if the ticket is resold at a higher price.
- Guaranteed sales – Funneling tickets to their resale sites guarantees those tickets will sell rather than remaining unsold.
- Higher fees – Ticketing fees are not capped on resale marketplaces, allowing Ticketmaster to charge higher fees compared to original sales.
The ticket resale market is also very lucrative, projected to be worth $12 billion globally in 2022. Capturing a share of this market through a resale division would be highly attractive.
Do fans have a case against Ticketmaster?
Based on the allegations and evidence, fans filing lawsuits against Ticketmaster make some compelling arguments. Possible consumer rights violations include:
- Deceptive practices – Claiming the resale market is a separate entity may qualify as intentional misrepresentation if Ticketmaster controls resale inventory.
- Inflated pricing – Artificially constraining supply to manufacture higher resale prices could violate unfair competition laws.
- Abuse of power – Leveraging market dominance in primary sales to corner the resale market may be considered anticompetitive.
However, concrete proof of Ticketmaster’s specific role in ticketing resales would likely be required for a lawsuit to succeed. Their practice of allocating tickets directly to resellers has been well-documented in the past through journalistic investigations and legal action. Establishing this continues today presents a bigger challenge.
How Ticketmaster could better address reselling accusations
If Ticketmaster is not directly involved in ticket brokering, there are steps they could take to combat this perception:
- Improve transparency around bulk ticket allocations before sales open to the general public.
- Crack down on ticket purchasing bots used to circumvent per customer ticket limits.
- Implement stricter ticket transfer rules to deter bulk transfers to resellers.
- Disclose specifically how they enforce separation between primary and secondary sales.
- Publish ticketing fee amounts and breakdowns to justify high resale service fees.
Enacting consumer-friendly policies like these could help Ticketmaster demonstrate they operate ethically and independently from ticket resellers.
Conclusion
Ticketmaster has been accused of unethically profiting from ticket resales, but publicly denies these claims. While difficult to definitively prove, there is a long history of evidence suggesting Ticketmaster has engaged in ticket brokering practices. Their market dominance in primary sales enables this by allowing them to control inventory allocations.
Ticketmaster stands to profit greatly from reselling their own tickets but also risks damaging their reputation and facing legal repercussions if the activity is conclusively exposed. More transparency and consumer protections from Ticketmaster would help quell suspicions of improper self-dealing. Unless ownership of specific resale tickets can be reliably traced back to Ticketmaster, however, their role in ticket brokering will likely remain ambiguous.