Ticketmaster refuses to collaborate with scalpers to increase profits

Ticketmaster denied on Friday allegations that he would allow scalpers to break his own rules against ticket resale limits and said he would launch an internal review to determine if rules were broken.

The ticket market was accused of colluding with scalpers after a secret investigation by CBC and Toronto Star journalists. Two Ticketmaster employees were surprised on video by saying that some scalpers using TradeDesk, an online platform owned by Ticketmaster to buy tickets for resale, could bypass purchase limits to protect customers by opening hundreds of accounts. – with the knowledge of the company.

"It is categorically wrong that Ticketmaster has put in place a program allowing resellers to buy large volumes of banknotes to the detriment of consumers," the company said in a statement. "The Ticketmaster Vendor Code of Conduct specifically prohibits resellers from purchasing tickets in excess of the posted ticket limit for an event. In addition, our policy also prohibits the creation of fictitious user accounts to circumvent the detection of the ticket limit in order to collect tickets for resale.

According to the findings of the joint investigation, Ticketmaster employees stated that the company was unaware of the fraudulent accounts in order to earn commissions on the resale of the tickets. Ticketmaster derives revenue from ticket sales and takes a commission on the resale.

"I have brokers who literally have a few hundred Ticketmaster accounts," a Ticketmaster salesman told a secret reporter at an event organized by the ticket industry in Las Vegas last July. "They have to do it because if you want to get a good show and the ticket limit is six or eight (seats), you will not make a living with eight tickets."

Ticketmaster said he did not "tolerate the statements" made by an employee cited in the original report, adding that the conduct described by the employee "clearly violates our terms of use".

"The company had already begun an internal review of its professional reseller accounts and practices to ensure that our policies are respected by all stakeholders," the company said. "In the future, we will put additional measures in place to proactively monitor this type of inappropriate activity."