Tennessee AG Probing Ticketmaster After Taylor Swift Presale Chaos
YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN, KID
It’s said that Swifties can do anything—including, apparently, spur an investigation by Tennessee’s attorney general, who said he was concerned about potential antitrust violations in the wake of the absolute debacle that was the presale of tickets to Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour. After fans complained of long wait times, inflated prices, and glitches on Ticketmaster as they attempted to secure tickets, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said he would be launching a consumer protection probe. “We have received complaints, we are concerned about this very dominant market player, and we want to make sure that they’re treating consumers right and people are receiving fair opportunity to purchase the tickets that clearly matter a great deal to them,” Skrmetti said Wednesday morning. Ticketmaster and Live Nation Entertainment Inc. together comprise more than 70 percent of the market for primary ticketing and live event venues, according to Bloomberg News. “As an industry player, you would think Ticketmaster would be prepared,” Skrmetti said. “Because they have a dominant position, they may have thought they didn’t need to worry about that. This could be an indicator that there’s not enough competition in the market.”