A lawsuit accusing Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation of overcharging customers for major concert tickets since 2010 will go forward as a class action suit, a federal judge in California ruled Friday, Dec. 12.
U.S. District Judge George Wu in Los Angeles ruled that plaintiffs met the criteria to expand the case on behalf of millions of people who allegedly purchased unfairly priced tickets to events at major U.S. concert venues.
Initially filed in 2022, the lawsuit accuses Live Nation of monopolizing ticketing services, failing to disclose the full price of tickets and violating antitrust law by charging artificially high prices. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and several states are seeking 15 years of alleged damages tied to the sale of over 400 million tickets since 2010.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster urged the judge to deny certification of the lawsuit as a class action, arguing that individualized issues regarding tickets sold for 1,000 venues make it impossible to address the allegations in a single trial, Reuters reported.
USA TODAY has reached out to Ticketmaster and Live Nation, both of which previously denied any wrongdoing, for comment on the judge's ruling.
