The Federal Trade Commission has sued a major ticket broker, accusing it of illegally bypassing ticket-purchasing limits to acquire millions of tickets to concerts and other popular events.
The company allegedly purchased more than 18.5 million tickets, spending over $1.3 billion and generating at least $120.8 million in resale profits.
One Beyoncé concert generated $833,000 in profits, according to regulators, after the company allegedly used 1,300 accounts to purchase more than 7,600 tickets.
Consumers who have struggled to buy tickets to popular concerts and sporting events, only to find them available on resale websites at much higher prices, may now have a better understanding of why that happens.
The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against California-based ticket broker REPS & Company Inc., alleging the company systematically evaded ticket-purchasing restrictions to acquire millions of tickets that it resold at substantial markups.
According to the FTC's announcement, the alleged practices violated the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, commonly known as the BOTS Act, which prohibits circumventing technological safeguards intended to enforce ticket-purchasing limits.
Millions of tickets purchased
The FTC alleges that since 2022, REPS has used a variety of techniques to get around restrictions imposed by ticket sellers, including Ticketmaster and AXS.
The scale of the operation was enormous, according to the complaint. Federal regulators say REPS purchased more than eight tickets for at least 83,500 events, many of them highly popular performances likely to sell out.
In total, the company allegedly spent more than $1.3 billion to acquire more than 18.5 million tickets, generating at least $120.8 million in profits through resale.
One example cited by regulators involved a 2023 Beyoncé Renaissance tour concert in Kansas City, Missouri.
The FTC alleges REPS used approximately 1,300 different ticket-purchasing accounts to acquire 7,624 tickets for that single performance. The company then generated approximately $833,000 in profits from reselling those tickets.
“REPS’ entire business model is focused on trying to game the ticket-purchasing system in order to obtain as many tickets as possible to resell at inflated prices to consumers,” said Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.
How the alleged scheme worked
Most major ticket sellers limit how many tickets an individual can purchase for a particular event. The restrictions are intended to give more fans an opportunity to purchase tickets directly, rather than having to pay inflated resale prices.
Ticket sellers enforce those limits by monitoring customer accounts, credit cards, email addresses, telephone numbers and internet addresses.
According to the FTC, REPS developed an elaborate operation to defeat those safeguards.
The company allegedly employed workers, most of them based in the Philippines, who operated thousands of purchasing accounts using different identities, addresses and telephone numbers.
Regulators say the company also used virtual credit cards, proxy internet services and specialized browsers that disguised the identities and locations of ticket buyers.
When ticket sellers detected suspicious activity and blocked purchases, REPS employees allegedly made small changes to names or addresses to get around the restrictions.
The FTC says internal company documents show that executives discussed ways to prevent their accounts from being detected and blocked.
For consumers, the lawsuit does not currently establish a refund program or a process to claim compensation for tickets purchased at inflated prices. However, the case could have broader implications for the ticket resale industry if regulators succeed in demonstrating that the alleged purchasing methods violated federal law.