MUMBAI: Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc, which controls ticketing at major venues across the US, and artist manager Live Nation Worldwide Inc are in talks to merge. The merger between the two companies is expected to be announced on Tuesday.
The Wall Street Journal reports that deal talks reached the final stages Sunday night, following the Grammy Awards.
Ironically, Ticketmaster became the centrestage of controversy when fans reported to Senator Charles Schumer about the Ticket Masters’ misleading website. It was reported that when fans tried to buy tickets for Springsteen’s upcoming tour last Monday, they were redirected from the Ticketmaster site to a subsidiary, TicketsNow, which specialises in reselling tickets above face value.
Springsteen expressed his concerns over this episode and also the possible merger between two companies, the website read, “A final point for now: the one thing that would make the current ticket situation even worse for the fan than it is now would be Ticketmaster and Live Nation coming up with a single system, thereby returning us to a near monopoly situation in music ticketing. Several newspapers are reporting on this story right now. If you, like us, oppose that idea, you should make it known to your representatives.” Springsteen, who won a Grammy last night for his song ‘Girls In Their Summer Clothes’ also stated his team does not participate in Ticketmaster charges.
Later, in an open letter to Springsteen fans, Ticketmater CEO Irving Azoff apologized, saying the situation could have been handled differently. Azoff stated that Ticketmaster will never again link to TicketsNow in a manner that can possibly create any confusion during a high-demand on-sale. Los Angeles-based Ticketmaster has stopped redirecting ticket-buyers to the TicketsNow site per his tour team’s request. Tickets went on sale on Monday for Springsteen’s show at New Jersey’s IZOD center in suburban New York. The tour kicks off in April in San Jose.
Meanwhile Charles Schumer on Sunday joined Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., in calling for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate. In his letter to the Federal Trade Commission chairman, Pascrell stated he sees abuse potential when one company is able to monopolize the market for a product and also directly manipulate and profit from the secondary market.
Pascrell also stated that the speed with which tickets were made available on Ticketmaster’s official resale affiliate site raises questions about whether TicketsNow brokers were given preferential treatment instead of competing on a level playing field with average consumers who want to buy tickets. Published reports state that more than 1,000 Springsteen fans called Pascrell’s office to complain about what happened when they tried to buy tickets from Ticketmaster.
According to The National Law Journal, companies that merge and create a certain size-threshold or deal-size will be under more scrutiny from the FTC and the Department of Justice thanks to the new presidential administration. Obama’s new goal will be preventing deals that harm consumers and overall create a more competitive marketplace. It also will create much more
paperwork that must be reviewed by the government agencies.