CANADA (CelebrityAccess) The Canadian Competition Bureau has concluded that Ticketmaster did not violate the country’s Competition Act through the use of its ticket software TradeDesk.
TM has been under fire with allegations that it was providing ticket resellers the opportunity to buy primary tickets in bulk then resell them through the use of TradeDesk. CBC News recently went undercover at the Ticket Summit 2018 in Las Vegas and claimed that Ticketmaster was recrutiing professional scalpers to cheat their own system, with TM employees, on hidden camera, telling the CBC that the company turns a blind eye to scalpers.
“I have brokers that have literally a couple of hundred accounts,” one sales representative said. “It’s not something that we look at or report.”
Casey Klein, Ticketmaster resale director, held a session at the event that was closed to the media called “We appreciate your partnership: More brokers are listing with Ticketmaster than ever before,” the CBC said.
The report caused a firestorm with Ticketmaster issuing a statement that it was “categorically untrue that Ticketmaster has any program in place to enable resellers to acquire large volumes of tickets.”
“Recently, allegations were made that Ticketmaster facilitated the mass scalping of tickets through the use of its software, TradeDesk,” the Competition Bureau said. “Generally, consumer protection and unfair business practices, including as they relate to ticket sales, are addressed at the provincial level. However, the Competition Bureau has examined the matter and has concluded that this conduct has not contravened the Competition Act”
However, “At the same time, the Bureau is pursuing its ongoing litigation against Ticketmaster, Live Nation and affiliated companies. This legal action seeks to stop the companies from allegedly making deceptive claims to consumers when advertising prices for sports and entertainment tickets. The Bureau’s investigation found that the advertised prices are deceptive because consumers must pay additional fees that are added later in the purchasing process. Hearings are open to the public and are scheduled to begin in the fall.”
