Federal Prosecutor for the Consumer (PROFECO) will fine Ticketmaster up to 10 percent of the company's sales for the year in Mexico after a ticket fiasco during Bad Bunny's concert, according to TechCrunch.
Thousands of Fans Were Denied Entry to Bad Bunny Show
On the weekend of December 9, Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny performed two sold-out shows at the 85,000-seat Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.
However, thousands of fans were denied entry to the venue. The staff of Estadio Azteca told them that the tickets that they bought directly from Ticketmaster were fake.
PROFECO said that on the first night, 1,600 ticket holders were denied entry to the show. In addition, another 110 were not allowed to enter on the following evening.
In connection, Ticketmaster issued a statement that they would refund the ticket holders who were denied entry. The company also claimed that the cause of the problem was fake tickets.
However, according to Ricardo Sheffield, head of Mexico's Office of PROFECO, the tickets weren't fake as Ticketmaster issued the tickets, after all.
Sheffield said that the company simply oversold the event, as per TechCrunch.
In a statement posted on Twitter this week, Ticketmaster denied the allegation that it oversold tickets. The company blamed what happened on the high demand for Bad Bunny tickets.
According to the company, more than 4.5 million people attempted to buy just 120,000 stubs. Likewise, Ticketmaster blamed the incident on scalpers who sold counterfeit tickets.
The company said that a huge number of fake tickets, which were not purchased through their official channels, were presented at the stadium's gate. This, they added, caused temporary interruptions in the ticket reading system.
In addition to the fine, PROFECO also promised to sue Ticketmaster for the problem that it caused, according to Engadget. The agency is preparing to file a class-action lawsuit against Ticketmaster.
Likewise, aside from getting full ticket refunds, customers, who were affected by the ticket fiasco, will also get a 20% compensation fee.
US Department of Justice Also Investigates Ticketmaster's Parent Company
According to Engadget, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating Ticketmaster's parent company, Live Nation. In November, DOJ opened an antitrust investigation into the entertainment company.
Democratic lawmakers, such as House Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called for the investigation of the company following the ticket sales fiasco of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.
Recently, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumers announced that it would conduct a hearing on the company.
Ocasio-Cortez said that Ticketmaster is a monopoly and its merger with Live Nation should never have been approved in the first place. Moreover, the lawmaker also said the entertainment company should be reined in.
In a statement, Live Nation said that the company takes its responsibilities under the antitrust laws seriously. Likewise, the company said that it does not engage in actions that could "justify antitrust litigation."
Consumers have been complaining about the frustrating process of securing tickets to a high-demand show on Ticketmaster.
Oftentimes, within minutes, a show will sell out fast. This is usually due to competition from bots. But afterward, thousands of tickets will reappear on resale sites like Vivid Seats, SeatGeek, and StubHub for a higher price.
Related Article: Taylor Swift Fans Sue Ticketmaster Over Eras Tour Presale Ticketing Disaster
