A major class-action lawsuit has levelled explosive allegations against the live events behemoth, Ticketmaster, and its parent company, Live Nation. The suit claims the company has been operating a secretive, two-faced system that publicly condemns ticket touts while privately enabling and profiting from them.
The legal action, filed in the US but with significant implications for UK consumers, centres on Ticketmaster's professional reseller programme, dubbed 'TradeDesk'. Court documents allege this sophisticated software tool was specifically designed to assist large-scale scalpers in bypassing purchase limits and effortlessly reselling thousands of tickets at massively inflated prices on the secondary market.
The 'TradeDesk' System: A Scalper's Paradise
According to the lawsuit, TradeDesk functioned as a powerful arsenal for professional resellers. The platform allegedly allowed users to circumvent the standard four-ticket limit by using multiple credit cards and identities to hoard vast quantities of inventory. This practice directly contradicts Ticketmaster's public stance against the use of automated 'bot' software to sweep up tickets.
Most damningly, the suit claims Ticketmaster not only turned a blind eye to this activity but actively encouraged it. Sales representatives were allegedly instructed to recruit heavy-volume scalpers onto the TradeDesk platform, offering them specialised tools and support to maximise their resale profits.
Double-Dipping: Profiting Twice on a Single Ticket
The financial incentive for Ticketmaster is laid bare in the legal filing. The company is accused of engaging in a lucrative form of 'double-dipping'. It collects initial fees on the original ticket sale and then collects a second, often larger, set of fees when that same ticket is resold on its own secondary market platforms or through affiliated sites.
This creates a perverse incentive where encouraging the secondary market becomes more profitable than ensuring fair primary sales to genuine fans. Internal company emails and documents cited in the lawsuit suggest this was a calculated business strategy, not a mere oversight.
Implications for UK Music and Sports Fans
While the legal case is currently US-based, the practices described have a global reach. Live Nation and Ticketmaster dominate the UK's live event market in a similar fashion. For British consumers who consistently face sold-out shows within minutes and exorbitant prices on resale sites like Viagogo, this lawsuit provides a potential explanation for a frustratingly familiar experience.
The allegations, if proven, could lead to significant financial penalties for the company and force a fundamental overhaul of how tickets are sold for major concerts and sporting events worldwide, offering a glimmer of hope for fans tired of battling touts.
