Live Nation Asks The Trump Administration To Cap Ticket Resale Prices…Which Would Conveniently Put Their Competition Out Of Business

Wonder why they would have an interest in capping resale prices?

We all know what a nightmare it is to try to buy concert tickets these days. From presale codes and “verified fan” programs to having to wait in a queue for hours, only to find that the only tickets available are outrageously expensive…it’s a nightmare. And that’s not even getting to the scalpers and scammers who snatch up tickets only to list them for sale on resale sites for an insane markup from the market price.

The whole thing is a giant headache, and honestly it’s taken a lot of the fun out of going to concerts.

Ticketmaster and Live Nation have (deservedly) come under fire for their role in creating the problem, with the monopoly that they’ve created over not just the ticket buying process but the live events industry in general. Ticketmaster, and parent company Live Nation, is by far the biggest ticketing platform out there. They also control a ton of venues, so most of the time fans are at their mercy when it comes to trying to get tickets for their favorite show or sporting event.

Last year, the Justice Department under then-President Joe Biden filed an antitrust lawsuit seeking to break up the Live Nation and Ticketmaster merger, claiming that the company was an illegal monopoly. And earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order (with Kid Rock by his side) directing the Federal Trade Commission to work in tandem with the U.S. Attorney General to positively “ensure competition laws are being enforced, and to enforce the BOTS Act to stop scalpers from using bots to buy up all the inventory and re-sell tickets at a huge markup.”

The Federal Trade Commission also issued a rule that went into effect in May requiring ticket sellers to advertise their final prices, instead of using hidden “junk fees” to jack up prices when a customer is getting ready to check out. (We’ve all dealt with it. You put a ticket in your cart and get to the checkout and all of a sudden it costs $100 more because of all the fees).

But apparently Live Nation is asking the Trump administration to take additional actions to benefit the consumer – although conveniently, it will also benefit Live Nation and Ticketmaster in the process.

As reported by Variety, Live Nation submitted a packet n a packet submitted to the Trump administration, including the FTC and the DOJ, with suggested reforms to the ticket resale market. Their suggestions include a 20% cap on resale prices, which Live Nation calls “the single most impactful step policymakers can take to improve fairness in ticketing.”

And sure, on its face that sounds like Live Nation actually making a suggestion that would benefit concertgoers. But one who’s cynical of their motives would also suggest that it could just be their attempt at putting their competition out of business.

Ticketmaster is a primary retailer of tickets, meaning that most of their business is from direct sales to consumers and not from resale. A cap on resale prices may hurt Ticketmaster’s bottom line, but it would hurt other resale markets much, much more. In fact, giant resale sites like StubHub have said that the caps would put them out of business, something would only strengthen Live Nation’s monopoly. And that would no doubt be more valuable to Ticketmaster than any temporary hit to their own bottom line.

Of course maybe I’m being too cynical. Maybe Live Nation really does have the fan’s best interests in mind and not their own bottom line. (Although I’d say you’d be hard pressed to find anybody who believes that).

If I had to guess, Live Nation is concerned that the actions the government could take pose a threat to their business, and they’re simply attempting to divert to ideas that would put their competitors out of business.

Sounds good on paper, but in practice? We’ll have to see what happens.The post Live Nation Asks The Trump Administration To Cap Ticket Resale Prices…Which Would Conveniently Put Their Competition Out Of Business first appeared on Whiskey Riff.