Utah Swifties are one step closer to settling bad blood with the country’s largest ticket sales company.
The state of Utah will join the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, accusing the companies of driving up ticket prices for fans by maintaining a monopoly over the concert and live entertainment industry.
The Beehive State is one of 10 states that recently joined in on the lawsuit, originally filed in Manhattan in May. So far, 39 states and the District of Columbia make up the plaintiff count in that lawsuit.
The decision by the state to join the DOJ lawsuit bodes well for people like Julie Barfuss, from West Jordan. Barfuss is the lead plaintiff in a separate lawsuit involving more than 350 plaintiffs, from Dallas-based law firm Kinder Law PLLC.
Barfuss is one of five Utahns represented in that lawsuit, which is part of a larger grassroots movement called “Take Down Ticketmaster.”
In a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune, a Live Nation Entertainment spokesperson said: “There is nothing new in the amended [Department of Justice] complaint — the lawsuit still won’t solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees, and access to in-demand shows. We look forward to sharing more facts as the case progresses.”
Read the full story at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.