SAN FRANCISCO (CelebrityAccess) — Ticket resale service StubHub has filed a lawsuit against Live Nation's ticketing unit Ticketmaster, and the NBA team the Golden State Warriors, alleging that the defendants are engaged in an “anticompetitive scheme” to force ticket holders to use Ticketmaster's TicketsNow resale service.
According to the ESPN, StubHub brought the lawsuit against Ticketmaster and the Warriors, claiming that they are offering their fans no choice in ticket resale sites because the team allegedly “cancelled or threatened to cancel” secondhand tickets not purchased through Ticketmaster.
“In short, Defendants have offered a Hobson’s Choice to Warriors fans: use Ticketmaster’s Secondary Ticket Exchange exclusively or forfeit your Warriors tickets altogether,” StubHub’s complaint read. “To Warriors fans, this is effectively no choice at all.”
“If the anticompetitive actions complained of herein are not stopped, Ticketmaster is likely to seek to replicate them with other teams and entertainment venues throughout the United States, restricting more consumers,” the suit reads. “… As a result, millions of Americans will find themselves captive to a monopoly.”
Ticketmaster's ticket resale service TicketsNow was named as the official marketplace for NBA tickets in 2012.
Ticketmaster and the Warriors declined to comment to ESPN. – Staff Writers
