2 months ago
Following a activity of regulations banning nan astonishment fees that look astatine nan extremity of a transaction, Ticketmaster stopped charging nan other fewer dollars it added to each bid astatine checkout. Typically shared pinch nan venue, nan bid processing interest was a boon to a world level that sells hundreds of millions of tickets a year.
But documents obtained by nan Guardian show that while Ticketmaster eliminated this interest to comply pinch nan rules, nan institution simply raised nan costs of different fees successful a number of its venues to guarantee it didn’t suffer money.
“To relationship for nan nonaccomplishment of bid processing revenue, we must set fees to offset nan gross loss,” Ticketmaster wrote successful an email to nan Findlay Toyota Center successful Arizona past year. The venue eliminated a $6 bid processing fee, but raised nan work interest connected each summons by $2 instead.
The email was included arsenic portion of Ticketmaster’s statement pinch nan venue and obtained done a nationalist records request. The Guardian obtained nan agreements for 26 publically owned venues astir nan country, ranging from municipality theatres to stadiums specified arsenic nan Rose Bowl successful Pasadena and nan Alamodome successful San Antonio.
Nearly each nan contracts picture an bid processing interest for illustration nan 1 successful nan Findlay Toyota Center that is nary longer permitted. At slightest 8 venues amended their contracts to raise different fees pursuing nan all-in pricing rules, contracts and emails show.
Former regulators told nan Guardian that rolling an forbidden interest into different complaint could break nan Federal Trade Commission’s norm against misrepresenting fees, which took effect past May.
John Newman, a erstwhile economist astatine nan Federal Trade Commission and a rule professor astatine nan University of Memphis, who reviewed nan memos, called them “potentially concerning”.
Just getting free of nan processing interest whitethorn not beryllium capable to comply pinch nan regulation, he said. “Ticketmaster whitethorn efficaciously still beryllium charging nan fee, conscionable disguising it arsenic thing else. That type of behaviour tin tally afoul of nan FTC rule.”
Ticketmaster did not respond to elaborate questions astir really it responded to nan authorities and national pricing regulations including really galore venues raised fees successful consequence to nan all-in pricing rules.
“Since May 2025, tickets connected Ticketmaster.com person displayed nan afloat value upfront successful statement pinch nan FTC’s all-in pricing rule. We besides supply explanations of fees during nan acquisition process and support a dedicated page pinch further information,” nan institution said successful a statement.
Live Nation Entertainment, which includes some Live Nation and Ticketmaster, is facing an antitrust proceedings complete allegations it operates an forbidden monopoly successful nan unrecorded euphony industry. Much of nan lawsuit has focused connected whether nan institution uses long-term, exclusive contracts pinch venues to stifle competition.
The Department of Justice abruptly reached a colony pinch nan institution only days aft nan proceedings began successful early March, drafting disapproval from several lawmakers, who called nan woody “weak”. A conjugation of much than 30 states chose to proceed nan litigation. Live Nation Entertainment has denied that it operates a monopoly.
The Biden management first announced a crackdown connected “junk fees” successful October 2022, coining nan building to picture a scope of excessive charges, including edifice hotel fees, in installments paper precocious fees and summons work fees. The inaugural became integral to Biden’s entreaty to working-class voters arsenic nan wide predetermination approached.
“Junk fees whitethorn not matter to nan very wealthy, but they matter to astir different folks successful homes for illustration nan 1 I grew up in, for illustration galore of you did,” Biden said successful his State of nan Union reside successful February 2023.
Executives astatine Live Nation Entertainment took note. In an earnings call conscionable days aft Biden’s speech, nan company’s main financial officer, Joe Berchtold, said Ticketmaster was unfairly lumped into nan speech astir junk fees, explaining that “most of nan money goes to nan venues. They deliberation nan work charges are conscionable immoderate arbitrary add-on to Ticketmaster pockets, which is not nan case.”
Live Nation Entertainment agreed pinch a connection to prohibition junk fees, Berchtold continued. In fact, nan institution was advocating for authorities mandating all-in pricing truthful consumers could spot nan full value of a summons upfront, including immoderate fees. The argumentation would not person immoderate worldly effect connected nan business, he added.
But Ticketmaster had already included protections successful a number of its ticketing work contracts. Documents obtained by nan Guardian show that successful astatine slightest 18 venue agreements, nan institution reserved nan correct to renegotiate fees and guarantee it remained “reasonably compensated” if immoderate charges were nary longer permitted. Essentially, moreover if regulators eliminated definite fees, nan contracts gave Ticketmaster a measurement to retrieve that mislaid revenue.
Ticketmaster is simply a measurement business. Last year, it earned fees connected 346 cardinal tickets and made astir $3bn successful revenue, according to company filings. While that represents nan number of tickets sold globally, it illustrates really lucrative an other mates of dollars added to each bid is for nan company.
In June 2023, Live Nation Entertainment attended a White House roundtable alongside executives from SeatGeek and Airbnb. The institution agreed to statesman “all-in pricing” for tickets sold astatine its venues truthful consumers were not amazed by further fees astatine nan extremity of a transaction. It did not see immoderate promise to little fees aliases summons prices, but Biden called it a “win for consumers”.
State lawmakers began to see regulating fees arsenic well. In October of that year, California passed legislation banning hidden fees. While location was nary regularisation connected nan magnitude of fees a business could charge, nan rule required each mandatory charges to beryllium included successful nan value of a bully aliases a service.
By nan clip nan rule took effect successful July 2024, Ticketmaster had written letters to aggregate venues successful California that it was scrapping its bid processing interest successful bid to comply, according to records obtained by nan Guardian.
To offset nan mislaid revenue, nan institution wrote to nan metropolis of Sacramento that nan magnitude Ticketmaster retained connected each summons to events astatine nan metropolis normal halfway analyzable would spell up by astir 25%. Instead of $3.45 connected each ticket, it would now gain $4.25 connected each ticket. The institution sent nan metropolis of Cerritos a astir identical missive raising Ticketmaster’s trim of each summons astatine a performing arts venue successful consequence to nan caller rule arsenic well, documents show.
It was wrong nan bounds of California’s law. Still, nan communications exemplify nan limits of transparency laws to modulate ascendant players, said John Kwoka, an economics professor astatine Northeastern University who has written often astir nan institution arsenic good arsenic advised authorities attorneys wide connected litigation.
In a competitory market, consumers mightiness take a ticketing supplier pinch little fees, he said. But since Ticketmaster is nan exclusive vendor for ticketing services of astir 80% of nan country’s venues, alternatives are often unavailable. If a instrumentality wants to spot a show astatine a venue that has an exclusive ticketing statement pinch Ticketmaster— they person to salary nan fees.
“Since we stay mostly hostage to Ticketmaster,” said Kwoka, “they person simply shifted which manus they person successful our pockets.”
Other states followed California’s law, including Colorado, Virginia and Minnesota. The Federal Trade Commission projected a norm to instrumentality all-in pricing astatine nan nationalist level, too. And erstwhile nan regularisation was formally issued successful nan last days of nan Biden administration, Live Nation Entertainment, again, publically supported it.
“We’ve led nan manufacture by adopting all-in pricing astatine each Live Nation venues and festivals, and applaud nan FTC’s industry-wide instruction truthful fans will now beryllium capable to spot nan full value of a summons correct upfront nary matter wherever they spell to spot a show aliases bargain a ticket,” nan institution wrote successful a December 2024 property release.
By nan clip nan national norm took effect past May, Ticketmaster had softly raised fees successful astatine slightest 4 different venues it contracted with, contracts show. Venues successful Arizona, Florida, Missouri and Georgia eliminated nan processing interest to comply pinch nan all-in pricing norm but accrued different charges instead. The Wintrust Arena successful Chicago raised summons fees by 2.3%. Florida State University raised summons fees by 3%.
But nan national norm has much restrictions than nan California law. While it does not limit nan magnitude of fees that businesses whitethorn charge, companies whitethorn not misrepresent their fees and must disclose why it’s charging them.
Serena Viswanathan, a erstwhile lawyer for nan Federal Trade Commission who worked connected nan norm said including this connection successful nan regularisation “is astir being honorable and transparent to consumers astir what they’re paying”.
When companies usage position for illustration “processing” aliases “service” fees, it’s difficult for a user to cognize what they’re really paying for, she added. The norm was intended to extremity immoderate of that obscurity.
“It really shows that each of these fees are benignant of made up,” said Viswanathan.
Ultimately, only nan FTC has nan authority to find whether Ticketmaster is successful compliance pinch its own rule. Separately, nan agency filed a suit against Ticketmaster and its genitor institution past September, which included allegations that nan institution deceived consumers by hiding mandatory fees until nan extremity of nan transaction.
Live Nation Entertainment disputed nan allegation successful its response, pointing to its compliance pinch nan FTC’s regularisation requiring all-in pricing.
A spokesperson for nan FTC said it did not remark connected individual practices of companies.
