Blackburn, Luján Demand Answers from Ticketmaster on Bait-and-Switch Scheme to Drive Up Ticket Prices

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) sent a letter to Live Nation President and Chief Financial Officer Joe Berchtold demanding answers on Ticketmaster's alleged "bait-and-switch" scheme to drive up ticket prices. The letter follows the Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster for allegedly engaging in illegal ticket resale tactics and deceiving artists and consumers about price and ticket limits.

In 2016, Senator Blackburn's Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act was signed into law, which prohibited scalpers from using software to purchase high volumes of tickets. Since then, Ticketmaster has turned a blind eye to bad actors violating this law.

Ticketmaster Allegedly Engaged in a Bait-and-Switch Scheme to Drive Up Ticket Prices

"We write to express our grave concern over recent allegations regarding the harm that Ticketmaster engaged in a "bait-and-switch" scheme to drive up ticket prices. When you testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2023, you told Congress 'We believe that the artist-fan connection is the foundation of the live entertainment industry, the source of nearly all commercial value, and the number one thing that public policy should protect.' Yet, according to a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission and seven states attorneys general, Ticketmaster coordinated with ticket brokers allowing them to obtain millions of dollars of tickets which they then resold on the secondary market."

Ticketmaster Has Turned a Blind Eye to Bad Actors Violating the BOTS Act, Costing Fans Billions

"Ticketmaster has allegedly turned a blind eye to bad actors violating the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act for years, costing fans billions of dollars in hard earned money. Instead of working with trusted cybersecurity professionals and Congress to protect consumers and stop ticket scalping, Ticketmaster went so far as to provide technical support to help 'brokers' exceed their purchasing limits to buy up tickets. This decision allowed Ticketmaster to collect fees at three different points in the purchasing process. Ticketmaster collects fees when scalpers buy tickets on the primary market, they collect more fees when those tickets are then sold on its own secondary market, and they charge even more fees when fans eventually purchase the resold tickets."

Ticketmaster Is More Concerned About Profit Than Protecting Consumers

"This conduct was not isolated, nor was meaningful action taken to bring this misconduct to a halt. When employees flagged the abuse occurring on Ticketmaster's platform, their concerns were allegedly ignored. Ticketmaster was not worried about the consumer. In fact, reporting indicates that Ticketmaster was more concerned when brokers complained about high-volume purchases that were blocked. A Ticketmaster executive even wrote that they 'turn a blind eye as a matter of policy' to the violation of their own purchasing limits. LiveNation went so far as to 'offer technological support to brokers through a software platform called TradeDesk, which enables brokers to track and aggregate tickets purchased from multiple Ticketmaster accounts into a single interface for simpler resale management.' These actions stem from purely financial motives -if Ticketmaster had enforced its ticket purchasing limits, the company stood to lose up to $220 million in resale revenue per year."

Ticketmaster Claims to Fight Bots and Scalpers While Actively Colluding with Bad Actors

"When you appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2023 following the Taylor Swift Ticketmaster meltdown, you repeatedly assured the committee that Ticketmaster does everything in its power to stop bots and scalpers. When pressed on the issue of cybersecurity protections, you seemed dumbfounded and argued that LiveNation spent over a billion dollars investing in site protections against bots. It is astounding that you would make such a claim while actively colluding with scalpers and bad actors to extort the American public. America's world-leading live entertainment industry is the center of our culture, and consumers deserve the opportunity to see their favorite band or cheer on their hometown sports team without competing with bots and fraudsters. Instead of casting blame on any entity other than Ticketmaster, we urge you to be forthright with Congress and the American public about the extent of your complicity in allowing bots to buy up and hoard massive amounts of tickets."

Click here to read the full letter.

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https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2025/10/general/blackburn-luj-n-demand-answers-from-ticketmaster-on-bait-and-switch-scheme-to-drive-up-ticket-prices