Ticketmaster faces antitrust scrutiny in Mexico following Unhealthy Bunny ticket gross sales fiasco

The top of Profeco, Mexico’s shopper safety watchdog, has promised to sue Ticketmaster following a ticketing snafu within the nation’s capital, studies . On the weekend of December ninth, Puerto Rican reggaeton star Unhealthy Bunny was scheduled to play two soldout reveals in Mexico Metropolis’s Estadio Azteca, the biggest stadium in Latin America. The Friday night time date noticed 1000’s of followers denied entry to the venue after they have been advised by Estadio Azteca workers the tickets they purchased immediately from Ticketmaster have been faux.

Profeco accused the corporate of overselling tickets. In response to the company, greater than 1,600 ticket holders have been denied entry on the primary night time, and one other 110 on the next night. “Ticketmaster claimed they have been counterfeit, however they have been all issued by them,” Profeco head Ricardo Sheffield told local news outlets. Ticketmaster has agreed to refund all affected followers the total value of their ticket, plus a 20 p.c compensation charge. Profeco is making ready to file a class-action lawsuit towards the corporate. Ticketmaster Mexico may be fined as much as 10 p.c of its complete gross sales in 2021. “As we’re a fiscal authority, in the event that they don’t wish to pay of their very own will, we’ll seize their accounts then, and they’ll pay as a result of they must,” Sheffield stated.

In a Ticketmaster posted to Twitter this week, the corporate denied the declare it oversold tickets. It blamed the occasion on demand for Unhealthy Bunny tickets – saying greater than 4.5 million individuals tried to buy simply 120,000 stubs – and scalpers who bought faux tickets. “On Friday, an unprecedented variety of false tickets, not purchased by way of our official channels, have been offered on the gates,” the corporate stated, in response to an . “The state of affairs, along with confusion amongst entry management personnel, brought about short-term interruptions within the ticket studying system, which sadly momentarily impeded recognition of reputable tickets.”

In November, Democratic lawmakers, together with Home Consultant Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, started calling for the break up of Ticketmaster after the corporate botched gross sales of Taylor Swift Eras Tour tickets. “Each day reminder that Ticketmaster is a monopoly, its merger with LiveNation ought to by no means have been authorized, they usually should be reigned in,” final month. The US Division of Justice an antitrust investigation into Ticketmaster mother or father firm LiveNation earlier than the Swift fiasco. The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competitors Coverage, Antitrust and Customers it will maintain a listening to on the corporate’s latest failures. 

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