Letter seeks public accounting of October 2 disruption, answers for affected fans and scrutiny of impact on competing marketplaces
WASHINGTON, [October 23, 2026] – The Ticket Policy Forum (TPF) today called on state attorneys general across the country to demand a full public accounting from Live Nation and Ticketmaster following a ticket transfer failure that reportedly left fans unable to access tickets and attend events they had paid for.
In a letter to attorneys general in all 50 states, TPF Executive Director Brian Berry urged their offices to require Ticketmaster to disclose what caused the failure, how many fans and events were affected, and how the company will make affected customers whole.
Beginning October 2, fans across multiple states reported that Ticketmaster transfers could not be accepted or canceled, or were stuck in a pending state. According to the letter, Ticketmaster has not provided a comprehensive public explanation of the incident, its scope or whether it has been fully resolved.
“Fans paid for tickets only to find they could not get in because Ticketmaster’s system failed them and couldn’t ensure their tickets transferred from the original ticketholder to the new one,” Berry said. “The system is broken when Ticketmaster can harm customers of competing ticketing companies like our member marketplaces by controlling whether or not tickets are transferred as intended. These fans deserve answers and a clear plan to make them whole. State attorneys general have the authority to demand that information, and we are asking them to use it.”
The letter raises concerns about the failure’s impact on fans who purchased tickets through competing resale marketplaces. When tickets were originally issued by Ticketmaster, those marketplaces depend on Ticketmaster’s transfer system to deliver them.
“Ticketmaster runs its own resale marketplace while controlling the infrastructure its competitors need to deliver tickets,” Berry said. “Attorneys general should determine whether all fans were treated equally, regardless of where they bought their tickets.”
The letter follows an October 14 lawsuit filed by TPF and members SeatGeek, Vivid Seats, Gametime and TickPick to block the District of Columbia’s RESALE Act. The suit challenges the act’s price and fee caps, which apply only to resale and exempt primary ticket sales, including Ticketmaster’s venue box office ticketing. TPF says the caps would undermine competition.
TPF asked attorneys general to require Ticketmaster to disclose:
1. The root cause of the ticket transfer failure that began on October 2, and the full duration of the incident, including when it was first detected and fully mitigated.
2. The number of transfers, events, venues, and customers affected, by state.
3. The number of fans who were denied entry or missed part or all of an event because a ticket transfer did not arrive.
4. Whether transfers originating from third-party marketplaces were affected at a different rate or prioritized differently than Ticketmaster’s own transactions.
5. Whether any customer data was exposed or compromised.
6. Ticketmaster’s internal incident classification and why no public incident notice was issued.
7. The company’s refund and remediation plan for affected fans, including those who purchased through competing marketplaces.
8. What changes Ticketmaster will make to prevent recurrence, and whether it will commit to public incident reporting for future outages.
The letter urges attorneys general to make their findings public.
About the Ticket Policy Forum
The Ticket Policy Forum represents America’s leading and most trusted online ticket marketplaces, including StubHub, SeatGeek, Vivid Seats, TickPick, Gametime, and Events Ticket Center. TPF member companies serve tens of millions of fans every year by providing secure, guaranteed transactions, fraud prevention, and customer support that protect buyers and sellers.