Swifties vs Ticketmaster
We have two ongoing Swiftie cases against Ticketmaster-Live Nation. One is in federal court in California and the other is in state court in Texas. The progress in our federal case is awaiting the outcome of a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a separate antitrust lawsuit: Skot Heckman, et al v. Live Nation Entertainment Inc., et al (Case Number 23-55770).
We are not party to this lawsuit, but it specifically is challenging the mandatory arbitration component of Ticketmaster’s terms and conditions. Basically, fans have to waive many of their consumer rights just to buy tickets. The oral arguments are anticipated to be in June or July 2024. Here are PDFs of Live Nation’s opening brief, as well as Heckman’s answering brief. If the Ninth Circuit finds in favor of the plaintiffs then it will be a huge win for our own case!
New Ticketmaster Lawsuit in Texas
Kinder Law filed a lawsuit in Dallas, Texas on behalf of seven plaintiffs. The plaintiffs’ claims are regarding the November 2022 ticket sale for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. The defendants include Ticketmaster LLC, Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., SeatGeek, Inc., Dallas Cowboys Football Club, LTD., and the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation.
The lawsuit makes the following claims:
BREACH OF CONTRACT
FRAUD
NEGLIGENT MISREPRESENTATION
NEGLIGENCE
ANTITRUST VIOLATIONS
Original Swifties v. Ticketmaster Lawsuit PDF
August 10, 2023
Judge George Wu ruled in favor of fans the Heckman et al. v. Live Nation et al. case. This is a watershed moment in fans ability to hold Ticketmaster accountable for their anti-consumer business practices.
Case background
Live Nation's mandatory arbitration agreement was previously challenged in the case Oberstein v. Live Nation Ent. Inc.. District Judge George H. Wu of the Central District of California ruled against Oberstein and this decision was held up on appeal by the 9th Circuit Court in February 2023.
Live Nation recently switched to a new arbitration agreement through New Era ADR, which is far more stringent. The Heckman hearing on August 10th will determine whether the new arbitration agreement is binding. See NBC News' Ticketmaster’s ‘Kafkaesque’ arbitration process is rigged, lawyers say for a detailed explanation. This ruling will have a crucial impact on our own case.
We had a court hearing on July 20, 2023. In the hearing Judge Wu said the following:
"So I guess we would hold off on that motion because you will see what happens when I rule [in the Heckman case], and, you know, if it's different then maybe it's a different result. If it's not different, then I probably should reach the same result in this case as I did in that case, if it's the same issue, which apparently both sides are saying that it's probably the same issue." - Judge Wu, July 20th hearing transcript, p. 11-12 transcript PDF
July 20, 2023: PRESS RELEASE: Judge denies Motion to Remand in the case of Swifties vs. Ticketmaster PDF
July 18, 2023: Judge Wu tentatively denied our motion to remand back to state court. PDF
Important dates:
November 6, 2023, Hearing on Motion to Compel Arbitration Hearing Notice PDF
July 20th, 2023, 8:30am PST: Motion to remand back to state court.
June 8, 2023 court order
April 6, 2023: We filed our 2nd amended petition, which added the co-defendents (SoFi Stadium & SoFi Technologies), more plaintiffs (350+ total) and a new negligence claim. 2nd Amended Lawsuit PDF
March 27th, 2023: Our 1st court hearing. Hearing Notice PDF