After facing strong criticism for the pre-sale ticket disaster of singer Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour,” Ticketmaster, a unit of the global entertainment company Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) is being sued by her fans in California court. The class action lawsuit is filed by several fans from across multiple states who feel cheated by Ticketmaster. Fans allege that “Ticketmaster intentionally and purposefully misled ticket purchasers.”
The lawsuit is filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, known for its stringent antitrust and anticompetitive policies. Fans are disappointed that they were unable to purchase tickets during the pre-sale and that the general sale of concert tickets was canceled due to the November fiasco.
The lawsuit even claims that Ticketmaster’s service is neither superior nor reliable, and that “the massive disaster of the Taylor Swift presale is evidence of this.” Fans also allege that Ticketmaster raised the pre-sale ticket prices and sold Swift’s merchandise in exchange for pre-sale coupon codes that many of them did not receive. Only 1.5 million of the 3.5 million fans who registered for the codes received them.
The fans have sued Ticketmaster for thousands of dollars in damages, and they urge the court to set a befitting example by suing Ticketmaster appropriately.
Even the celebrity expressed dissatisfaction with the way the pre-sale of her performance tickets was handled, saying it was “excruciating for me to just watch mistakes happen with no recourse.” Interestingly, over 2.4 million tickets to the concert have been sold to date.
The Justice Department (DOJ) is also probing Live Nation and Ticketmaster for the debacle under anti-competitive and monopolistic practices. Ticketmaster said it is not guilty of any malpractices, apologized to Swift and her fans, and is even cooperating with the investigation.
Is Live Nation a Buy or Sell?
On TipRanks, LYV stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on five Buys and two Holds. The average Live Nation Entertainment stock prediction of $100.83 implies 36.5% upside potential to current levels. Meanwhile, LYV stock has lost 39% so far this year.
