{"id":2479339,"date":"2025-08-27T07:21:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T11:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ticketmaster-doubles-down-on-screwing-fans\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T07:26:57","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T11:26:57","slug":"ticketmaster-doubles-down-on-screwing-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ticketmaster-doubles-down-on-screwing-fans\/","title":{"rendered":"Ticketmaster Doubles Down On Screwing Fans"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fticketmaster-doubles-down-on-screwing-fans%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2479339&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The summary discusses the dominance of Live Nation-Ticketmaster, which controls about 80% of the live events market and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jpmorgan-chase-had-deeper-ties-to-jeffrey-epstein-than-previously-acknowledged-report\/\" title=\"JPMorgan Chase Had Deeper Ties To Jeffrey Epstein Than Previously Acknowledged: Report\">faces legal action<\/a> from the Department of Justice and over 40 state attorneys general. Thay are accused of inflating ticket prices, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/roman-catholic-diocese-warns-of-fake-bishops-priests-in-california\/\" title=\"Catholic Diocese cautions against counterfeit clergy in California.\">charging excessive fees<\/a>, and using their power to stifle competition. The Trump governance set a September 27 deadline to unveil a plan to combat unfair ticket scalping and exploitative fees, aiming to protect fans from inflated costs. Though, Ticketmaster is attempting to influence this reform to protect and strengthen its monopoly, proposing price caps on resale tickets that could eliminate smaller competitors while allowing ticketmaster to increase its fees and control. This tactic is described as crony capitalism, where the largest player manipulates regulations to its advantage. The article calls for genuine reforms,including strict measures against scalping bots and enforcement of purchase limits,to create a fairer live event market for fans,venues,and competitors. The piece is authored by Steve Cortes, a political adviser and former Trump advisor.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Live Nation-Ticketmaster already controls&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&amp;rls=en&amp;q=ticketmaster+80+percent&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">80 percent<\/a>&nbsp;of the live events market. It has been&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/archives\/opa\/pr\/ten-additional-states-join-justice-departments-suit-against-live-nation-ticketmaster\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sued<\/a>&nbsp;by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and more than 40 state attorneys general, which have accused it of raising ticket prices, imposing punitive fees on fans, and threatening venues to prevent them from working with competitors. The case against Ticketmaster is clear: it is a cartel using its size to punish rivals and squeeze fans.<\/p>\n<p>That&rsquo;s why Sept. 27 matters. The Trump administration has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/03\/combating-unfair-practices-in-the-live-entertainment-market\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">set that date<\/a>&nbsp;to unveil a blueprint to rein in &ldquo;exploitative ticket scalping&rdquo; and &ldquo;egregious fees.&rdquo; It&rsquo;s a chance to break up a system that has gouged ordinary Americans for decades.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>However, instead of bracing for reform, Ticketmaster is lobbying Washington to twist this effort into a government protection racket for itself. This is one of the biggest,&nbsp;dirtiest,&nbsp;money-in-politics stories&nbsp;of the year and yet it has gone completely under the radar.<\/p>\n<h2>Trump&rsquo;s Executive Order<\/h2>\n<p>Earlier this year, President Donald Trump&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/03\/combating-unfair-practices-in-the-live-entertainment-market\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">directed<\/a>&nbsp;his administration to clean up the messy live event industry so that fans stop getting priced out of concerts and ballgames.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In announcing this new priority, Trump made clear that while &ldquo;America&rsquo;s live concert and entertainment industry has a total nationwide economic impact of $132.6 billion and supports 913,000 jobs,&rdquo; it&rsquo;s been exploited by bots and unscrupulous corporate business practices that leave fans paying the price.<\/p>\n<p>He put his best minds at the DOJ, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Department of Treasury to the task of making the industry less exploitative of fans and families, with a Sept. 27 deadline put in place for a first draft of their plan.<\/p>\n<h2>Ticketmaster&rsquo;s The Problem<\/h2>\n<p>Beyond the DOJ and 40 states&rsquo; antitrust suit, Ticketmaster&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/completemusicupdate.com\/as-ftc-begins-crack-down-on-ticket-scalping-scalpers-say-ticketmaster-endorses-their-practices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">has been<\/a>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/business\/business-news\/ticketmaster-reseller-sued-over-illegal-ticket-buying-scheme-rcna225726\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">accused<\/a>&nbsp;of looking the other way while scalpers use bots to snap up highly sought-after tickets and resell them at a huge markup &mdash; on Ticketmaster&rsquo;s own resale platform, of course, from which the company also takes a generous cut. In other words, customers get fleeced coming and going.<\/p>\n<p>An August FTC&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/system\/files\/ftc_gov\/pdf\/KIG-FiledComplaint-Redacted.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">complaint<\/a>&nbsp;against a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >massive ticket-scalping ring included<\/a> an email from a defendant admitting to Ticketmaster that he had purchased more tickets than permitted for a 2024 Bad Bunny concert. He even offered to cancel the orders. Ticketmaster responded that &ldquo;as long as the purchases were made using different accounts and cards, it&rsquo;s within the guidelines.&rdquo; In other words, scam approved.<\/p>\n<h2>Ticketmaster&rsquo;s &lsquo;Reform&rsquo; Proposal<\/h2>\n<p>Given this track record, most would agree that this is not exactly a company that can be trusted to fix anything. Nevertheless, Live Nation-Ticketmaster is still trying to spin the president&rsquo;s call for live event marketplace reform around in a way that will help its business interests instead of stopping its predatory practices.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The monopoly&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/us-law-week\/price-cap-on-tickets-would-hurt-dojs-case-against-ticketmaster\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">grand idea<\/a>&nbsp;to fix the live entertainment ticketing industry is to impose price controls on resale tickets. That&rsquo;s a terrible, backwards plan.&nbsp;Sometimes, price caps can be used to fight rigged systems, like stopping Big Pharma price-gouging, but this isn&rsquo;t one of those cases. This is the Ticketmaster monopoly writing its own corporate welfare-style regulation so it can wipe out the smaller players who dare compete with it.<\/p>\n<p>If these price controls go into effect, independent resale competitors will be&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whiskeyriff.com\/2025\/07\/09\/live-nation-asks-the-trump-administration-to-cap-ticket-resale-prices-which-would-conveniently-put-their-competition-out-of-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">driven out of business<\/a>&nbsp;very quickly. Ticketmaster would be left as the only game in town, free to jack up its own fees even higher, lock down artists and venues, and cement total control over the live events market.<\/p>\n<p>In short, Ticketmaster would be using the language of &ldquo;reform&rdquo; to create the very monopoly the Trump administration is trying to break.<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s a classic case of crony capitalism. When you&rsquo;re the biggest player, you ask the government to regulate in ways that protect your dominance. It&rsquo;s like a toddler caught with his hand in the cookie jar suggesting &ldquo;cookies for dinner&rdquo; as his punishment, turning wrongdoing into reward.<\/p>\n<h2>Where Should Trump Go from Here?<\/h2>\n<p>If Ticketmaster gets its way, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawmakers-mum-as-ticketmaster-doles-out-tickets-for-farrakhan-hate-rally\/\" title=\"Lawmakers Mum As ... Doles Out Tickets For Farrakhan Hate Rally\">ticket industry<\/a> will be locked down for decades. Fans will keep paying higher prices, smaller competitors will be wiped out, and &mdash; worst of all &mdash;&nbsp;Washington will have been duped into doing the monopolist&rsquo;s dirty work.<\/p>\n<p>Trump&rsquo;s executive order was about protecting fans from exploitation, not protecting Ticketmaster&rsquo;s monopoly. Conservatives should make sure this distinction is clear. Otherwise, the Sept. 27 blueprint risks becoming a bailout for the very company it was meant to hold accountable.<\/p>\n<p>True reform would require strict measures to block the scalping bots that inflate event prices (and which Ticketmaster profits from), while enforcing purchase limits and stopping Ticketmaster from enabling or profiting from these predatory practices. Only then can the live event market become fair for fans, venues, and independent competitors alike.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Steve Cortes is president of the League of American Workers and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/indiana-gop-senator-mike-braun-announces-hes-running-for-governor\/\" title=\"Indiana GOP Senator Mike Braun Announces He\u2019s Running For Governor\">senior political adviser<\/a> to Catholic Vote. He is a former senior adviser to President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance and a former Fox News commentator.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Live Nation-Ticketmaster dominates 80% of live events, sued for price hikes and anti-competitive tactics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4006,"featured_media":2479340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/52167673145_66ce8d169e_k-e1756148904194.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[47683,37598,62071,62072,62070],"class_list":["post-2479339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-concert-tickets","tag-event-management","tag-fan-experience","tag-ticketing-issues","tag-ticketmaster-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/52167673145_66ce8d169e_k-e1756148904194.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2479339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4006"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2479339"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2479339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2479344,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2479339\/revisions\/2479344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2479340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2479339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2479339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2479339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}