Ticketmaster to Make Policy Changes After FTC Lawsuit

Ticketmaster is making some changes in the wake of the Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit against them.

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In a letter to Senators Marsha Blackburn and Ben Ray Luján, which was obtained by Billboard, Live Nation executive vice president Daniel M. Wall said it was “categorically false” that the ticket company had worked with scalpers to resell tickets.

However, Wall said that things would change at Ticketmaster.

First, Wall said the company would instate a ban on fans and brokers operating more than one account on its site. The company will do so with the help of new AI tools and anti-bot systems, Wall said.

Second, Ticketmaster will now require brokers to use their Social Security number when selling tickets on the platform.

Lastly, Wall shared that Ticketmaster will be shutting down TradeDesk. The platform is a ticket uploading application, which allows brokers to track their listings across multiple marketplaces.

The FTC previously argued that TradeDesk was offering support to brokers who go over ticket limits.

While Wall denied that claim, he said Ticketmaster made the decision to remove the platform to avoid “reputational harm.” Additionally, Wall acknowledged that, after TradeDesk shuts down, brokers will likely just move to a similar system that sites like StubHub employ.

What to Know About the FTC’s Lawsuit Against Ticketmaster

Wall’s 10-page letter came two months after the FTC’s lawsuit. The suit alleged that, after using a variety of tactics to bypass Ticketmaster purchase limits, the company resold tickets at a higher price, generating millions in revenue.

The FTC argued that by employing those practices, Ticketmaster violated the FTC Act and the Better Online Ticket Sales Act (BOTS Act). Enacted into law in 2016, the BOTS Act sought to prevent bots from purchasing tickets and reselling them for a profit.

The FTC claimed that Ticketmaster violated the act by providing brokers ways to get around ticket limits. For his part, Wall claimed that the FTC’s viewpoint “presents a distorted view of the facts and the law.” Instead, he alleged that the law wasn’t meant to stop people from having multiple accounts, but to instead stop brokers from employing software to bypass ticket limits.

Wall, Billboard reported, closed his letter by expressing his support for the bipartisan MAIN Event Ticketing Act. He also encouraged the FTC to focus on enforcing current laws on bad actors, instead of going after the sites on which they act.

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