Tennessee Attorney General joins federal crackdown on Ticketmaster, Live Nation over ticket scalping claims

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has announced that his office is joining the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a bipartisan group of six other state attorneys general in a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, over alleged ticket scalping practices that have left fans paying inflated prices.

The lawsuit, filed in the Central District of California, claims that Ticketmaster knew professional ticket brokers were breaking ticket purchase limits on its website.

These brokers allegedly created hundreds of fake accounts and used automated software with proxy IP addresses to buy thousands of tickets at once, pushing ordinary fans out.

According to the complaint, Ticketmaster ignored these violations and, in some cases, even aided the brokers. The tickets were then resold at higher prices on Ticketmaster’s own resale platform.

Officials say this conduct breaks the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, which was designed to stop such practices. The company is also accused of violating the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act by misleading customers into believing ticket limits were properly enforced.

“Tennessee wouldn’t be Tennessee without world-class live music from the mountains to the Mississippi. When consumers line up for a show, they should never have to compete with armies of scalpers scooping up hundreds of tickets at a time,” said Attorney General Skrmetti. “We’re fighting to level the playing field and get tickets back into the hands of real fans at fair prices.”

The coalition is asking the court to stop Ticketmaster from continuing these alleged practices and to secure financial relief for affected consumers.

Tennessee joins the FTC and the attorneys general from Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, Utah, and Virginia in filing the suit.