New York Attorney General Files Suit Against Vaccaro And Companies For Speculative Ticket Sales

– Ticketnetwork

New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood filed suit Sept. 14 against TicketNetwork, Inc., and Eventvest, Inc., (which does business as Ticket Galaxy) and their owner Donald Vaccaro for selling “speculative tickets.”

The AG alleges that Vaccaro’s company Ticket Galaxy and “dozens of other brokers” would sell tickets they did not actually have, but would purchase the tickets and resell them with a markup to the consumer only after an order was placed through the TicketNetwork platform. 

“Speculative tickets like these are nothing more than a scam that hurts New Yorkers and undermines the entire ticket industry – driving up prices while defrauding consumers into believing that they’re buying a real ticket,” Underwood said in a statement. “New Yorkers should not have to – unknowingly – bet on whether a seller can actually deliver the tickets for which they paid. This office will continue to do what’s necessary to protect New York fans.”

A New Jersey judge threw out a similar lawsuit filed by the state against Orbitz Worlwide and TicketNetwork Direct in 2010, ruling that federal law protects the marketplace from claims made by third parties on their site.  

TicketNetwork and Ticket Galaxy both had fully functioning websites and marketplaces at publication time. A cursory review of the TicketNetwork site did not show language related to “speculative” tickets, though a disclaimer on a screen showing inventory for an upcoming show read: “TicketNetwork is a resale marketplace, not a box office or venue. Prices may be above or below face value. Your seats are together unless otherwise noted. Tickets will be the ones you ordered or better.”

Some concerts offered a “FLeX” seating option as “a more affordable option for those flexible about where they sit.” The site’s FAQ section addressed that some “delayed release” tickets could not be officially transferred until within 72 hours of the event.

Vacarro wrote a letter to the New York Times earlier this year stating that his company has proposed legislation to force more transparency on the parts of venues and promoters, who he claims often hold tickets and then sell them at the last minute on secondary platforms, only to then pass blame onto brokers.

“We support making it illegal for venues not to reveal the exact number of tickets available to the general public,” Vaccaro wrote. “This introduction of transparency would refocus the spotlight on the true culprits, as well as provide valuable information the venues and artists may not want fans to know.”

The AG cites 96,000 instances in which consumers ordered speculative tickets, 30,000 of which were with Ticket Galaxy, citing specific instances of Bruce Springsteen tickets in 2015 that sold for $3,600 per ticket hours before stubs were even available to the general public. 

TicketNetwork supposedly charged brokers more to use these speculative programs and used the speculative listings to boost the appearance of available inventory. The suit also accused Ticket Galaxy of lying to consumers when unable to procure the ordered tickets, blaming technical issues or supplier issues.  

The complaint alleges damage to many of the consumers who paid inflated prices and violation of New York consumer protection laws.