Ticketmaster to Ban Multiple Accounts and Shut Down TradeDesk Amid FTC Lawsuit

Ticketmaster has announced significant policy changes in response to a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit alleging the company colluded with ticket brokers to circumvent purchase limits and inflate resale prices. The company will now prohibit users from operating multiple accounts and will shut down its TradeDesk platform, which facilitated ticket inventory management for resellers.

In a letter dated October 17 to Senators Marsha Blackburn and Ben Ray Luján, Dan Wall, Live Nation's Executive Vice President of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, stated, "We have come to the conclusion that the reputational harm to Ticketmaster from having to explain and defend TradeDesk exceeds its value." He added that the company is implementing a policy allowing all users, including brokers, to maintain only one account, with excess accounts to be canceled in due course.

The FTC's lawsuit, filed in September, accuses Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, of enabling ticket brokers to bypass purchase limits, leading to inflated prices on the secondary market. The complaint alleges that Ticketmaster was aware of brokers using multiple accounts and its TradeDesk platform to acquire large quantities of tickets for resale at higher prices.

Wall refuted the allegations, describing them as "categorically false" and asserting that the company's practices have been misrepresented. He emphasized that while the use of multiple accounts by brokers has been a longstanding industry practice, it has "gotten out of hand," and the company is taking steps to address the issue.

The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) responded to Ticketmaster's announcement, stating that the actions are "too little and too late to get back the trust of fans, artists, and stages." NIVA called for Live Nation to voluntarily cap ticket resale prices at face value and expressed support for ongoing antitrust actions against the company.

The FTC's lawsuit is part of a broader effort to address concerns over ticketing practices in the live entertainment industry, with the Department of Justice also pursuing antitrust claims against Live Nation and Ticketmaster.