Judge Allows Swiftie Suit Against Live Nation, Ticketmaster To Proceed

A federal judge in Los Angeles turned aside arguments by Live Nation and Ticketmaster and allowed most of a class-action suit by Taylor Swift “Eras” Tour ticket-seekers to proceed.

In a ruling Monday, Judge George Wu adopted much of an earlier, tentative decision that allows a group of 350 Swifties to sue the live giant and its ticket subsidiary for violating federal antitrust law, California consumer protection laws and breach of contract. He turned away fraud and negligence claims.

The suit, filed in December 2022, one month after the now-notorious on-sale for “Eras,” claims that the Live Nation-Ticketmaster combination unlawfully controls key parts of the live entertainment market in a manner so anticompetitive that the collapse of the ticketing system was inevitable under the weight of the unprecedented demand and bot attacks seen when “Eras” went on sale.

For its part, Live Nation has called the suit a “laundry list of grievances about ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour.”

Live Nation sought to bar the civil class action claims by saying that the antitrust suit filed by the Department of Justice focuses primarily on the arena, amphitheater, club and theater markets, whereas the Swifties are alleging violations at the stadium level. Wu was unpersuaded that there was enough material difference as to render the claims unrelated.

“None of these allegations clearly indicate that the government action excludes conduct related to stadiums,” Wu wrote in his decision, saying he found “no meaningful distinction between arenas, amphitheaters and stadiums.”

There were a few wins for Live Nation and Ticketmaster. In dismissing the fraud claims, Wu said the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that Ticketmaster made promises about bot-prevention without intent to perform, a key factor in fraud allegations. Similarly, he found no duty-of-care for Ticketmaster, negating a negligence claim.