Ticketmaster Skips Senate Hearing as Attorney General’s Office Cites Jury Verdict and Seeks Tougher Bots Law

Live Nation Ticketmaster declined to testify at a Senate hearing on online ticket sales Sept. 30, and the state attorney general’s office used the stage to cite a unanimous federal jury verdict against the company and to ask lawmakers for stronger laws against bots and deceptive resale practices.

The charge asks lawmakers to improve price transparency and curb deceptive practices, especially in the resale market. Ticketmaster’s absence left the largest seller out of the discussion.

Chair Charles Schwertner, R–Georgetown, opened the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce session on the charge by noting the empty chair. Ticketmaster “controls approximately 80% of the primary ticketing market and 20% of the secondary ticketing market,” he said, but “despite two weeks of formal notice,” it “has declined to testify here today.”

Schwertner said the presence of attorney general representatives and current and former committee members running for attorney general “was too much of a concern for Live Nation Ticketmaster.” He said he did not subpoena the company. “We could have, but we have chosen right now at this time in the interim to have the hearing and do what we need to do during the session.”

The attorney general’s antitrust chief, identified in captions as Thomas York, told senators what happened in court. “We won at trial and with a unanimous jury verdict, the jury found Live Nation and Ticketmaster liable on every count submitted,” he said, adding that the jury found the conduct raised prices by “$1.72 for every ticket sold in the United States.” Texas will seek “structural change to promote real competition in ticketing,” he said, at a remedies trial he hoped would come early next year. His division has about 20 attorneys, he said: “We can’t take on the entire Ticketmaster by ourselves.”

Jonathan Stone, chief of the attorney general’s Consumer Protection Division, said the Federal Trade Commission settled with StubHub for $10 million over junk fees in April and has active litigation against Live Nation and SeatGeek. On the state’s existing bots law, he urged removing the “knowing” requirement and expanding it beyond people who use bots to “any reseller or secondary market that realizes that that’s occurring.” Lawmakers could also bar sales by sellers who do not hold the ticket. “You can’t sell a ticket if you don’t have possession of the ticket or a contractual right to the ticket. That could address the ghost ticketing issue,” he said, and clarify in the Deceptive Trade Practices Act that false countdown clocks are deceptive.

Zach Anderson of the Texas Ticket Sellers Association, who has worked in ticketing for 33 years, urged enforcement over new limits. “We need to enforce that law now that it’s a law in Texas,” he said. “I think we should be careful about addressing specific problems by restricting the entire industry.”

StubHub, which said more than 1.2 million Texans bought or sold tickets on its platform last year, pushed on delivery and pricing. A company executive said Texas should require timely delivery and that “the price you see should be the price you pay with no hidden fees.” For 80 percent of major concerts, he said, the primary seller is Ticketmaster.

SeatGeek’s government affairs vice president went furthest in welcoming regulation. He said he would accept state-court exposure under a stronger law, even with an attorney’s fees provision: “Bring it on. We want that pressure.” A senator asked whether the problem exists in college sports. “Far, far less,” the witness said.

Asked about an investigation involving FIFA World Cup ticket resale, an attorney general’s office witness said it is ongoing and he could not discuss it.

Independent promoters and artists closed the panel. Cody Cowan of Levitation, which runs festivals, said solutions “do exist and are being deployed to independent markets.”

Schwertner wrapped the charge with a signal. “We’ll certainly pass some legislation and improve on certain pieces of legislation,” he said. “It seems to be a process that’s ripe for fraud, obviously, and malfeasance.”

The hearing was interim and no vote was taken. The Dispatch outlined the ticket charge in its preview. Bills for the 90th Legislature, which convenes in January 2027, would amend the state’s bots law and the consumer protection act, and could add requirements on delivery and pricing.