In its lawsuit, the FTC accuses Key Investment Group, that also operates as Front Rose Tix, Epic Seats, Totally Tix, and TotalTickets.com, of “using unlawful tactics to exceed ticket purchasing limits for many popular events, including Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, and resell the tickets at significantly higher prices, generating millions in revenue.”
The FTC accuses the company of violating the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act by using a web of spoofed IP addresses, fake accounts, and multiple SIM cards to garner a big chunk of tickets on the Ticketmaster platform. Key Investment Group was therefore able to bypass the security protections on the Ticketmaster platform. In the process, it was able to beat many genuine ticket buyers on the platform who had to turn to it to buy these tickets, obviously at a markup.
While buying tickets with the intent of reselling them is perfectly legal, the FTC accuses Key Investment
Group of violating the BOTS Act and FTC Act by “circumventing a security measure, access control system, or other technological control or measure on an internet website or online service that is used by the ticket issuer to enforce posted event ticket limits or to maintain the integrity of posted online ticket purchasing order rules.”
FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson said, “Today’s action puts brokers on notice that the Trump-Vance FTC will police operations that unlawfully circumvent ticket sellers’ purchase limits, ensuring that consumers have an opportunity to buy tickets at fair prices.”
FTC Accuses Ticket Broker of Making Millions Through Illegal Means
FTC claims that in just over one year, Key Investment Group made $7 million through these means as it bought tickets for $57 million while selling them for $64 million. It made a cool $1.2 million in 2023 for Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” alone.
Expectedly, Key Investment Group has denied the allegations and says that the FTC “twisted the intent” of the BOTS Act by turning it “into a weapon against legitimate businesses and consumers.”
It added, “Under the FTC’s interpretation, anyone who purchases more than four tickets or uses more than one account could be deemed in violation of federal law.”
The company also took a swipe at Ticketmaster’s nepal cell phone database apparent monopoly in the US ticketing market. It said, “The case threatens to dismantle the secondary ticket market for live events, further consolidating power in the hands of the industry’s largest monopoly.”
Live Nation Antitrust Case
To be sure, this is not the first major antitrust lawsuit in the ticketing space. Last year, the Department of Justice (DOJ), along with several state and district attorneys general, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment. The lawsuit alleges that the company has an illegal monopoly over the live events industry and has used anticompetitive practices to harm fans, artists, and venues.
Live Nation received a jolt in March when a federal judge denied its motion to dismiss key parts of the lawsuit. The company is also separately facing class action lawsuits from consumers, and in April, a federal judge denied the company’s attempt to dismiss one of these.