The Live Nation/Ticketmaster Monopoly has Rigged the System.
Original Ticket Sales
Live Nation/Ticketmaster controls an estimated 80% of original ticket sales in the US and 84% of ticketing for NBA, NFL and NHL teams.
Consumers Pay the Price
Ticket prices are up over 151% since the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger when accounting for inflation.
California Can Transform Live Event Ticketing to Work for Fans.
Legislative solutions should open the marketplace to competition:
More Choices
More Choices
Improve Fan Experience
Improve Fan Experience
Empower Fans
Empower Fans
Fight Bots and Fraud
Fight Bots and Fraud
What Others are Saying
We Stand for Fans!
Frequently Asked Questions
It is broken because the LNE/TM monopoly controls every aspect of live events. The monopoly doesn’t just control ticketing, but represents artists, promotes events, owns or manages venues — and even controls parking, concessions, merch and more.
This dominance has enabled them to control 80% of all original ticket sales, and in 2022, they comprised 1/3rd of all resale transactions.
LNE/TM also restricts what fans can do with their tickets after they have rightfully purchased them, in order to edge out competition.
Yes. Lack of competition benefits the monopoly at the expense of fans, who are faced with higher prices and less access to events. Since LNE/TM merged in 2010, ticket prices have increased 151% when adjusted for inflation.
Buying tickets can be a frustrating process for fans who face long waits in queues and sites that crash. And if they are lucky enough to get a ticket, California fans are not guaranteed the right to donate, gift, or sell their tickets unless permitted by the original ticket seller.
There is little transparency for fans around how or when tickets will go on sale, leading to a sense of false scarcity and higher prices. There is also uncertainty around when they will get their purchased tickets delivered to them, which can be stressful and confusing.
The number one thing we can do to fix live event ticketing is to increase competition. This will incentivize ticket sellers to improve the fan experience through better service, more transparency, and lower fees.
Fans should have enhanced rights that ensure they have control over tickets they have rightfully purchased.
We should also create a system so that every ticket sold or resold by participating retail platforms can be verified by a single source. Verification will help address incidents of fraud and speculative ticket sales, and create a more connected marketplace to fight illegal bots.
In 2024, Biden’s US DOJ and CA Attorney General Rob Bonta led a 40-state antitrust lawsuit against LNE/TM alleging that it relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the US.
The lawsuit is currently pending in the Southern District of New York.
Original sales for live event ticketing are when tickets are sold for the first time. Because of the LNE/TM monopoly, the vast majority of live events sell tickets through Ticketmaster, and Live Nation is often the promoter and venue as well. There is virtually no competition in the primary market.
Resales are when the original purchasers of a ticket resell their tickets through a secure, online platform. The resale market is the only place in live event ticketing where there is real competition and multiple purchase options, which drives down prices. Ticketmaster also participates in resale.
Consumers should have the right to do what they want with the tickets they have rightfully purchased. They should be able to sell, donate, or give their ticket away should they choose. But today, unlike states like Colorado, Illinois, and New York, California consumers have no rights with respect to the tickets they buy.
Ticket resale plays a valuable role in providing competition and creating additional ways for everyday fans to find tickets who would otherwise miss out. Legislation should give consumers control over the tickets they purchase, not give more power to monopolies.
LNE/Ticketmaster is pointing the finger at the resale marketplace — despite operating a major resale platform themselves — to deflect attention away from their own inaction and the US DOJ lawsuit targeting their anticompetitive practices.
The truth is that ticket resale plays a valuable role in providing competition and additional ways for everyday fans to buy tickets who would otherwise miss out. It also recognizes that life happens. A fan may buy a ticket to see their favorite artist, but then can’t go due to work or a health issue or any number of reasons. People should have the opportunity to resell their tickets if needed – not be forced to lose hundreds of dollars because the LNE/TM monopoly wants to dictate what fans do with their tickets.
Ticketmaster accounted for 1/3 of all resale transactions in 2022. The US DOJ lawsuit alleges that Ticketmaster’s rapid increase in resale marketshare coincided with the launch of its “SafeTix” technology that requires that all ticket transfers occur within Ticketmaster’s platform, making it harder for fans to use other resale platforms and therefore blocking competition.
The DOJ further alleges that SafeTix creates “uncertainty around when, or even whether, that ticket can be transferred.
SafeTix is a ploy intended to grow Ticketmaster’s share of the resale market, undercut resale competitors, and ultimately eliminate the only competition that exists in ticketing today – i.e. resale.