Why California’s fight over ticket fraud has become a proxy war against Ticketmaster and Live Nation

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A year ago, Colorado firefighters Rick Balentine and Tim Cottrell were transporting donated supplies by truck from Aspen to Los Angeles to help people affected by the Eaton and Palisades fires.

While driving west, the pair decided on a whim to see the Eagles perform at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Balentine and Cottrell each purchased tickets through StubHub for about $400, with Cottrell using his credit card and receiving a confirmation. However, when they arrived at the venue, they were denied entry because the ticket seller hadn’t actually sent the tickets.

Cottrell only received a cancellation notice for his concert tickets, just as the show was about to begin. He wasn’t given any reason for the cancellation beyond a refund of his money.

Balentine admitted they knew the tickets weren’t purchased directly from the source, but they were shocked to learn those tickets could be canceled.

I was really upset. We need better safeguards to protect both customers and creators from being cheated.

More and more people want tickets to popular events like concerts and major sporting competitions, such as the World Cup. When fans can’t buy tickets directly from official sellers like Ticketmaster or AXS, they often look to resale markets. Platforms like StubHub, SeatGeek, and Vivid Seats are popular places to find these resale tickets. Ticketmaster also allows customers who originally bought tickets through them to resell those same tickets on their platform.

Honestly, buying tickets from people reselling them used to be pretty straightforward, and everyone usually walked away happy. But lately, it’s gotten way harder to be sure you’re actually getting a real ticket, especially with all the fake or speculative ones popping up – like what happened with my friends Balentine and Cottrell. It’s just not as easy to trust the resale market anymore.

What are speculative tickets?

Resellers sometimes offer concert tickets they don’t actually have yet, hoping to buy them later and deliver them to the buyer. Unfortunately, many people are affected by these scams – Live Nation data from 2025 shows that about one in three Americans has been a victim. A new California law, AB 1349, could change this by prohibiting the sale of these kinds of ‘speculative’ tickets on any resale website within the state. The bill passed a vote in the state assembly on Monday and is now being considered by the state Senate.

When popular artists announce tours, tickets often appear for resale almost immediately. For example, after K-pop group BTS announced their world tour with four shows at SoFi Stadium, some sellers on Vivid Seats began listing tickets for over $6,000 before regular fans could even buy them. These high-priced listings can make it seem like tickets are running out quickly, which often leads to even higher prices.

I’ve been following this new bill in California, and it’s really interesting! Basically, if it passes, anyone selling tickets would actually have to have the tickets in hand first – they can’t offer to sell something they don’t possess. Plus, listings would need to clearly show exactly where the seats are and what kind of refunds buyers are entitled to. It’s also going to crack down on bots that scoop up tons of tickets, and the fines for breaking the rules are going way up – from $2,500 to a hefty $10,000 per offense. It seems like a great move to protect fans!

Live music is a major economic driver in California, generating over $51 billion for the state’s economy and providing jobs for more than 460,000 people, as reported by 50 States of Music.

Ticket fraud isn’t just a problem for fans; it also creates issues for venues and their staff when someone arrives with a fake ticket. According to Stephen Parker, head of the National Independent Venue Association, banning the practice of reselling tickets at inflated prices (speculative ticketing) in California could save venues around $50,000 in staffing costs.

Parker explained that staff often have to comfort fans who are devastated about not being able to see their favorite artists, especially after paying high prices for tickets that don’t work or they never receive.

Fighting ticket fraud and reining in a ticketing giant

As a huge moviegoer, I’ve been following all the craziness around concert and event tickets, and it’s wild! Right now, there are tons of bills popping up all over the country trying to fix the issues. It’s great to see some places – like Maryland, Minnesota, and Maine – are already taking action and putting rules in place to stop people from buying up tickets just to resell them at a huge profit. Hopefully, more states follow suit!

This action follows lawsuits filed against Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, by both the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission in 2024 and 2025. The Department of Justice is suggesting the company be broken up, claiming it has been operating as a monopoly. The lawsuit also alleges that Ticketmaster forces venues to use its ticketing services exclusively and pressures artists to do the same.

Ticketmaster was established in 1976 and has been the leading ticket seller since 1995, handling roughly 80% of all live concert tickets. In 2010, it joined forces with Live Nation.

Ticketmaster is expanding its reach into the resale market with Ticketmaster Resale, a platform where fans can buy and sell tickets to events. It works much like other resale sites, but Ticketmaster prohibits the practice of buying tickets with the intention of reselling them at a profit.

The Federal Trade Commission is suing the ticket company, claiming it used unfair and illegal practices when reselling tickets. These practices included misleading both artists and customers by advertising lower prices than they actually paid. After the FTC filed its complaint, the company updated its policies.

Ticketmaster is now preventing users from creating multiple accounts, a practice previously used to bypass ticket limits. They are also discontinuing Trade Desk, a program that allowed ticket resellers to monitor and adjust prices on various platforms, which had been a source of controversy.

Live Nation is pushing back against the FTC’s lawsuit, arguing that the company is being unfairly targeted. Dan Wall, a Live Nation VP, explained that they face millions of automated attacks daily and believe the real issue lies with ticket resellers. They’re urging federal and state governments to focus on the resale market and work together to find a solution.

According to Wall, their company prioritizes both artists and fans, so they avoid questionable or unfair business practices. They aim to be a trustworthy and legitimate source for buying and selling tickets.

Some experts believe the recent wave of laws aimed at cracking down on ticket reselling is a tactic by Ticketmaster to distract from its own legal issues and focus blame on the resale market. Live Nation actively supports the bill in California. Diana Moss, from the Progressive Policy Institute, argues that the California bill, AB 1349, goes too far with its restrictions on the secondary ticket market.

Moss explained that many new state laws seem designed to shut down ticket resale markets, which are important for consumers. Without these resale options, fans would be forced to buy directly from Ticketmaster and pay their high fees. The goal, according to Moss, is to eliminate competition by restricting resale markets, leaving fans with no choice but to use Ticketmaster.

California Assembly Bill 1349 redefines event tickets as licenses, sparking debate in the ticketing industry. Critics worry this change would give Live Nation more control over how tickets are used – potentially limiting resale options or even preventing transfers. Meghan Callahan of the Empower Fans Coalition, a group opposing the bill, compares this new licensing approach to essentially renting a ticket instead of owning it.

Callahan argues that Ticketmaster is intentionally trying to reduce competition. He believes this legislation unfairly restricts others while benefiting Ticketmaster, masking those benefits with language about protecting consumers and strengthening their dominant position in the market.

I recently heard from Ticketmaster that this new bill, if passed, won’t actually change much for people buying tickets. They explained that, technically, a ticket is already a license – permission from the venue to be on their property for the duration of the show and to occupy a specific seat. So, in their view, it’s not a fundamental shift in how things work.

“Honesty doesn’t favor one person or another. That’s what this [bill] is about,” said Wall.

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2026-01-29 14:03