A federal judge in California ruled that Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster must face a class-action lawsuit alleging they overcharged millions of consumers for tickets to major concert venues nationwide.
U.S. District Judge George Wu in Los Angeles determined that plaintiffs met the requirements to expand their case into a class action, seeking damages spanning 15 years and involving more than 400 million tickets. The lawsuit covers anyone who purchased tickets directly from Ticketmaster or a Live Nation affiliate for events at major venues since 2010.
Live Nation had argued against class certification, claiming that individual issues across tickets sold for roughly 1,000 venues made a single trial impossible. The company also said that venue operators, not Ticketmaster, set fees for fans, often varying show by show.
The 2022 lawsuit accused Live Nation of monopolizing ticketing services and charging artificially high prices in violation of antitrust laws. Live Nation and Ticketmaster deny any wrongdoing.
In October, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s attempt to move the case from federal court to private arbitration. The company also faces other antitrust lawsuits, including one brought by the Justice Department and several states, which it similarly denies.