LN Settles NJ Ticket
Fee Suit

Two New Jersey men sued the promoter in 2009, claiming it was illegal to tack on a $6 parking fee to each ticket at the shed when not all concertgoers drive.

The also say Live Nation’s “no-fee” promotion was deceptive.

A judge still has to sign off on the settlement and a hearing to consider its final approval is scheduled March 28. It seems a formality, however, with both sides coming to an agreement that will effectively end the suit.

Without admitting liability, Live Nation defines the “class” as 362,928 fans who bought tickets to concert at the PNC Bank Arts Center between June 2003 and June 2011.

Anyone who bought tickets online through Live Nation and Ticketmaster during that period would be eligible. Under the settlement agreement filed Dec. 3 Live Nation would admit no wrongdoing. A judge still needs to give final approval.

Members of the class would receive vouchers good for three free tickets to specified concerts at the shed and discount codes for future purchases.

“We think it’s fair value for the claims, and we think that given the fact that these people are all concertgoers, they will appreciate the settlement,” said Lee Squitieri, an attorney for one of the plaintiffs.

Michael Katz sued Live Nation in 2009 after buying lawn tickets to a Blink-182 concert.

Clifford Davidson, another ticket buyer, filed a similar suit later in the year and the two were combined.

They alleged Live Nation wasn’t truthful about its “no service fee Wednesday” promotion and that instead of dropping the fees, the promoter merely incorporated them into the base price of the tickets and then raised the base price.

Henry Wolfe, another plaintiffs’ attorney, called the settlement substantial.

“The parking fee was at the heart of the suit,” Wolfe said. “Live Nation argued that the fee was added on as a way to ease traffic backups that would have ensued if cars had to stop and pay cash to an attendant.

But the lawsuit called the fee “a contrivance for defendants to arbitrarily inflate ticket prices.”

If the preliminary settlement receives final approval, Live Nation would still have some control over which concerts it must offer free tickets for.

The current agreement requires the promoter to designate a minimum of 60 percent of its live concert events at the PNC Bank Arts Center and Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden as “free ticket events.”

Live Nation would have sole discretion as to which concerts it designates.

A minimum of 200 free tickets would be made available for each show.

Live Nation would also be required to post notices of settlement details in USA Today editions covering the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, New Jersey and New York markets, as well as in local New Jersey papers.