Tenn. Tix Probe Nixed

Tennessee officials decided not to open an investigation into ticket scalpers and the use of bots, despite a series of investigative reports by a Nashville TV station accusing Ticketmaster of scalping its own tickets to high-profile local shows.

A legislative committee decided Nov. 13 to not investigate a complaint over ticket scalping by Fan Freedom Project’s Jon Potter because Ticketmaster itself did not complain, according to WTVF-TV, the station that has aired reports of ticket scalping at Eric Church, Taylor Swift and other shows.

 
A committee studying the complaint was given information about ticketing processes, including inventory, manifests and data detecting the use of automated bots to snap up tickets before fans – the latter being illegal in Tennessee.
 
Fielding Logan, director of touring for Q Prime South, was among those who provided information from Ticketmaster, but told Pollstar that reports regarding scalping emanating from Nashville were misleading, and the issue isn’t something that can be tackled on the local level.
 
An unidentified Davidson County assistant district attorney told WTVF after the decision that “evidence was not found to corroborate these allegations, nor has the Tennessee General Assembly’s intended victim of this statute (i.e. Ticketmaster) come forward with a criminal complaint.”
 
Fan Freedom Project is an advocacy group funded primarily by ticket reseller StubHub. Potter told WTVF he filed the now-dead complaint after the station looked into alleged scalping at a recent Eric Church show at Bridgestone Arena.