Federal prosecutors are accusing a San Diego-based entertainment company of using bots and other illegal means to scoop up millions of tickets to hot events such as concerts for Beyoncé, Post Malone, Pitbull, and Luke Bryan, then reselling the tickets in bulk for a profit, often against the artists’ wishes.
In a 22-page lawsuit filed Thursday and obtained by Rolling Stone, the Justice Department says REPS & Co sidestepped ticket limits for at least 83,000 events, shelling out more than $1.3 billion for a staggering 18.5 million tickets to concerts, Broadway shows, college sporting matches, and other popular events identified through software as high-demand. The company then turned around and unloaded the tickets at markups on resale sites including StubHub, Vivid Seats, SeatGeek, Gametime, and Ticketmaster’s own resale platform, raking in at least $120.8 million in profits, prosecutors claim.
The lawsuit alleges that for just one concert on Beyonce’s Renaissance tour at Arrowhead Stadium in California on Oct. 1, 2023, REPS used at least 1,300 accounts to purchase 7,624 tickets through Ticketmaster. The ticket purchase limit for that concert was between four and eight, prosecutors said, and REPS allegedly made approximately $833,323 in profit by reselling those tickets.
For a Sept. 7, 2024, Pitbull concert in Syracuse, N.Y., REPS allegedly used at least 700 accounts to buy 5,430 tickets through Ticketmaster, prosecutors say. The purchases represented nearly one-third of the capacity of the Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater, and the company made approximately $120,109 in profit reselling the tickets, according to the lawsuit.
Attempts to reach a spokesperson for REPS were not immediately successful Thursday. The lawsuit marks the latest crackdown under the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, also known as the BOTS Act, which bans scalpers from circumventing ticket limits with technology.
“The Justice Department is committed to holding accountable individuals and businesses that drive up the cost of event tickets by illegally exceeding ticket purchase limits and reselling those unlawfully obtained tickets with exorbitant markups,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Brett A. Shumate said in a statement. “Working alongside the FTC, we will continue to enforce the BOTS Act to protect consumers from such conduct.”
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