The National Independent Venues Association (NIVA) has reacted to Live Nation’s letter to Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) by calling on the company to cap resale prices for tickets listed on Ticketmaster.
That’s much further than Live Nation executive vp Daniel M. Wall seemed willing to go in his letter addressing questions surrounding last month’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit. Wall did, however, make news announcing that Ticketmaster plans to shut down its long-criticized TradeDesk ticket uploading application and more strictly enforce its one account per person rule, especially on its resale platform, where brokers list tickets purchased off Ticketmaster’s primary platform.
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NIVA officials, who have long called for a cap on how much brokers can charge for resale tickets, described Live Nation’s actions as “too little and too late to get back the trust of fans, artists and stages.”
The NIVA letter alleges that Live Nation “got caught opening up their systems to predatory resellers,” pointing to a September lawsuit from the FTC that accused the company of looking the other way as ticket brokers used multiple accounts to buy tickets in bulk for resale and profit from large markups.
Wall attempted to throw cold water on that claim with his letter, arguing that the lawsuit “presents a distorted view of the facts and the law” and argues that the government’s claims are based on “novel and expansionist” interpretations of the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, and “that Ticketmaster — not its competitors — has done more than anyone to combat scalping and fraud.”
NIVA officials called the letter “an attempt to clean up their devastated public image following the Federal Trade Commission’s strong BOTS Act and deceptive practices case against them,” adding, “based on that suit and this letter, we have seen clear evidence that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are in bed with scalpers, and resale platforms like StubHub and Vivid Seats benefit daily from it.”
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“The meaningful way to repair the damage done by Live Nation’s alleged collusion with scalpers,” the NIVA statement adds, “is for them to voluntarily cap resale tickets on their resale platform at no more than the face value of the original ticket.”
The letter signs off, “We look forward to the U.S. Department of Justice and 40 state attorneys general breaking up Live Nation soon and ending their anti-competitive practices for good.”
Officials with The National Independent Talent Association (NITO), which represents independent managers and agents, released their own statement reacting to Wall’s letter, writing, “Ticketmaster nor any other platform should engage in reselling tickets above face value. This practice hurts both artists and their fans. We are encouraged that the FTC’s efforts have already led to Ticketmaster reforming its systems by canceling multiple broker accounts and improving its efforts regarding BOTS sweeps. We will continue to support all efforts to get tickets in the hands of fans at the price the artist sets and welcome stronger enforcement against predatory ticketing practices.”
Billboard‘s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, visit https://www.billboardlivemusicsummit.com/2025/home-launch.
