D.C. concertgoers who bought Ticketmaster tickets since 2015 may be eligible for refunds
For nearly a decade, concertgoers in the nation’s capital paid more than they realized for their tickets. Now, Live Nation is paying the price.
The $9.9 million settlement
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced Monday that Live Nation, the entertainment giant that owns Ticketmaster, has agreed to pay $9.9 million to resolve allegations that it deceived customers about ticket prices, collected undisclosed fees, and deployed manipulative pressure tactics to push fans into purchases.
Of that total, up to $8.9 million will be returned directly to D.C.-area customers who purchased tickets through Ticketmaster in the past decade. Details about the claims process will be announced in the coming months, according to the Office of the Attorney General. The settlement is separate from the OAG’s ongoing antitrust lawsuit, in which a jury previously found the company held an illegal monopoly over major concert venues.
3 deceptive tricks Live Nation used on buyers
An OAG investigation uncovered three distinct practices that violated the District’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act.
- Hidden fees at checkout. From 2015 until May 2025, Live Nation advertised artificially low ticket prices that excluded mandatory fees. The true cost was only revealed on the final checkout page, after customers had already spent time selecting seats and moving through the purchase process. The OAG described the approach as a bait-and-switch tactic that prevented consumers from making fully informed decisions upfront.
- Inadequate fee disclosures. Beyond concealing fees until the final stage of checkout, Live Nation also failed to clearly explain the nature and purpose of those charges or disclose its own role in setting them.
- Fake scarcity pressure tactics. The platform used a countdown clock and pop-up alerts designed to make tickets appear scarce and close to selling out. If a customer remained inactive for more than 60 seconds, a warning appeared urging them to act immediately before tickets disappeared. That warning displayed regardless of the actual demand for the event.
What Live Nation must do now
As part of the settlement, Live Nation is required to display the full price of a ticket, including all mandatory fees except taxes, on the ticket selection page and throughout the entire purchase process on both its website and mobile apps. It must also provide clearer information about each fee it charges, including who benefits from it and how the revenue is divided among the parties involved in putting on the event. The company’s inactivity notice must also be updated to more accurately explain how the ticket hold process works.
Live Nation had already begun implementing all-in pricing in 2025 following the OAG investigation and the Federal Trade Commission’s rule on unfair and deceptive fees.
D.C. residents who purchased tickets through Ticketmaster over the past 10 years should monitor future announcements from the OAG for details on how to file a claim.
SOURCEs: OAG, WUSA9