Ticketmaster Must Face FTC Lawsuit After Executive Said It Turns ‘Blind Eye’ to Scalpers

Ticketmaster must face a federal lawsuit accusing the ticketing giant of knowingly allowing professional brokers to evade purchase limits, including allegations that one executive said the company turns a “blind eye” to the practice “as a matter of policy.”

U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong on September 28, 2026, rejected Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation’s bid to dismiss the case, ruling that the federal Better Online Ticket Sales Act can reach ticketing platforms accused of allowing brokers to circumvent restrictions.

The Federal Trade Commission and seven states sued the companies in September 2025, alleging professional resellers used hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of accounts under fake identities to buy more tickets than artists allowed and then resell them through Ticketmaster’s secondary marketplace.

An internal review cited by the government found that just five brokers controlled 6,345 Ticketmaster accounts holding 246,407 tickets to 2,594 events. The complaint alleges the company collected additional fees when tickets obtained beyond purchasing limits were resold on its platform.

In seeking dismissal, Ticketmaster argued that the BOTS Act targets the resellers who circumvent ticketing restrictions rather than the platforms they use. Frimpong rejected that interpretation, writing that the law “does not preclude platforms from facing liability.”

The decision does not establish that Ticketmaster violated the law. At this stage, the court was deciding whether the government alleged enough facts to allow its claims to proceed.

Among the evidence described in the complaint is an internal email in which a senior executive allegedly said Ticketmaster turns a blind eye “as a matter of policy” to brokers circumventing ticket limits. Other communications cited by the government allegedly show the company knew about specific brokers who repeatedly created fake accounts.

Frimpong also pointed to allegations that Ticketmaster had tools capable of enforcing purchasing limits once violators were identified but reduced, discontinued or declined to adopt measures that could curb their activity. She found those allegations sufficient to support the government’s BOTS Act claims at the dismissal stage.

A separate part of the case targets Ticketmaster’s former pricing practices. The government alleges customers saw advertised ticket prices before mandatory charges were disclosed later in the checkout process, a practice commonly known as drip pricing.

Ticketmaster argued that its use of “plus fees” alerted buyers to additional charges. Frimpong found the phrase could plausibly be considered too vague to tell consumers what they would ultimately pay.

The company now uses all-in pricing that displays the full ticket price upfront. Responding to the ruling, Ticketmaster maintained that it is a leader in fighting bots and other methods used by scalpers and said it believes the government’s lawsuit is misguided.

Federal regulators have also pursued ticket brokers themselves under the BOTS Act. In a separate case, the FTC accused Key Investment Group and affiliated resellers of using thousands of accounts and other methods to exceed Ticketmaster’s purchasing limits for major events, including Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. A federal judge rejected the brokers’ attempt to dismiss that case in April.

Live Nation and Ticketmaster are separately fighting the consequences of a federal antitrust verdict after a jury found the companies unlawfully monopolized parts of the live-events business.