Live Nation Entertainment (LYV) has had a decent run on Wall Street so far this year, but the spotlight has suddenly shifted, and not in a good way. The United States federal government and a group of states are suing Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation. The case accuses the company of letting ticket resellers drive up prices, leaving fans to “pay substantially more than face value” for in-demand concerts and events.
In its Sept. 18 press release, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) went after Live Nation with a list of accusations, including “bait-and-switch pricing,” where fans pay more than the advertised amount. The FTC also disputed Live Nation’s claims of “strict limits” on ticket sales, saying brokers routinely blew past those limits without consequence. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time Live Nation has faced such scrutiny.
