Live Nation & Ticketmaster Class Action Lawsuit

Live Nation (LYV) and Ticketmaster (TK6) are in trouble, once again, for tacking on surcharges to tickets. Both companies are facing a potential class action lawsuit accusing them of violating Arkansas’ deceptive trade law by charging on as much as $12 or more per ticket more than they are advertised.

According to the Live Nation and Ticketmaster class action lawsuit, Ticketmaster holds exclusive rights to sell tickets for events at many public arenas across the country. Anyone who wants to purchase tickets to these events must go through Ticketmaster. (Live Nation is an alter ego of Ticketmaster and derives a profit from Ticketmaster’s activities.)

“Ticketmaster uniformly and systematically adds additional fees to the face value of tickets for events hosted at Verizon and other venues for which it markets tickets. These additional charges include, but are not limited to, ‘facility charges,’ ‘convenience charges,’ and ‘order processing fees.’ These additional charges added by Ticketmaster are not only in excess of the face amount of the ticket price, they are in excess of the advertised ticket price,” the class action lawsuit says.

For example, the lead plaintiff in the case, Corey McMillan, claims he purchased four tickets from Ticketmaster advertised at $42.75 a piece. By the time the transaction was complete, however, Ticketmaster had tacked on a $2.00 “facility charge” for each ticket, a $9.40 “convenience charge” for each ticket, and a $4.00 “order processing fee.” This caused his “$42.74” tickets to inflate to $55.15 each – A $12 increase per ticket in order to attend the concert.

“Ticketmaster’s conduct is deceptive, unfair and unconscionable, and violates one or more provisions of the DTPA,” says the Ticketmaster class action lawsuit. Arkansas’ DTPA (Deceptive Trade Practices Act) prohibits ticket sales in excess of their face value and makes it illegal for anyone to tickets at a price greater than that printed on the ticket.

The Ticketmaster and Live Nation class action lawsuit is brought on behalf of a proposed class action all Arkansas residents who have paid Ticketmaster and Live Nation charges which were in excess of the face value of tickets for ticketed events within the last five years. It is asking that the defendants’ excess fees be void and that they refund the class the unlawful fees, plus pre-judgment interest.

A copy of the Live Nation & Ticketmaster Fees Class Action Lawsuit can be read here.