The following statement can be attributed to Ticket Policy Forum Executive Director Brian Berry:
“A federal court has certified a class action covering 400 million ticket purchases, underscoring the scale of alleged consumer harm tied to Ticketmaster’s market dominance. At the same time, some policy proposals now under consideration mirror approaches Live Nation has long advocated for, including price controls on resale ticketing companies that compete with the behemoth.
“Arbitrary price caps do not address the broader lack of competition in ticketing, particularly when you consider how Ticketmaster routinely adjusts prices up and down based on demand. Live Nation/Ticketmaster’s recent embrace of price controls and related policies should prompt lawmakers to ask whether these proposals increase competition, or instead how they reinforce existing market control.
“As policymakers consider how best to respond to documented consumer harm, as this class action litigation takes shape and as state attorneys general and the DOJ head to trial next year in their landmark monopoly lawsuit to break up Ticketmaster, it is worth examining whether proposed solutions meaningfully increase competition and consumer choice, or whether they leave the underlying market structure intact.
“The question facing legislators is straightforward: will proposed reforms follow the evidence from the courts and the marketplace, or reinforce the status quo in ticketing?”