Ticket

One insider estimates Australians pay A$10 in fees per ticket, with fans bearing the burden of monopolised music tour schedules and inflated artist valuesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia is being urged to improve ticketing transparency after a US federal court found Live Nation Entertainment had a harmful monopoly over big concert venues.This week, a New York jury found the global entertainment giant and its subsidiary Ticketmaster liable for systematically stifling competition to extract excessive profits from concertgoers. The jury identified a baseline overcharge of US$1.72 for every ticket sold by Live Nation since 2010 – totalling an additional US$595m in 2025 alone. Continue reading...

Mikie Sherrill says taxpayers should not carry burdenCosts at World Cup have come under increased scrutinyNew Jersey’s governor, Mikie Sherrill, has hit out at Fifa after reports her state’s transport system will charge $100 for a return ticket to World Cup matches this summer.New Jersey Transit lists the price for a round-trip ticket from New York’s Penn Station to MetLife Stadium, which will host eight World Cup matches this summer, including the final, as $12.90. The new pricing, reported by The Athletic earlier this week, puts the return ticket at more than $100 with no reductions for children, seniors or people with disabilities. NJ Transit told Fox 5 New York that the price has not been finalized. A decision is expected in the coming days. Continue reading...

Verdict in states’ lawsuit says concert giant stifled competition, raising pressure for changes to ticketing marketA jury has found that concert giant Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary had a harmful monopoly over big concert venues, dealing the company a loss in a lawsuit over claims brought by dozens of US states.A Manhattan federal jury deliberated for four days before reaching its decision Wednesday in the closely watched case, which gave fans the equivalent of a backstage pass to a business that dominates live entertainment in the US and beyond. Continue reading...

LA28 set aside tickets for LA and Oklahoma City residents, but some say they faced exorbitant prices and high feesSince tickets for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles went on sale for local residents on 2 April, excitement for the Games has given way to sticker shock among some Angelenos over what they describe as exorbitant prices and an unexpected service fee.LA28 had made a wave of slots in the presale ticket lottery available for residents throughout southern California, where the majority of contests will take place, and in Oklahoma City, which will host the canoe slalom and softball events. Tickets ranged in price from $28 into the thousands. Continue reading...

Even if motorists can provide evidence they’ve paid for parking, they are threatened with bailiffs and courtDrivers have accused a leading car park management company of issuing “false” parking fines – leaving one mother to defend herself from multiple debt collection agencies sent by the company.Jane Winder says she was sent letters from five different debt collection agencies each asking her to pay £170 after she was accused of not purchasing a £2.30 parking ticket at a car park in Lancashire managed by Euro Car Parks. Continue reading...

Reduced public holiday services and school holidays heighten pressure on network, leading to overcrowdingFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPassengers have been forced to stand for hours and many were unable to board services over Easter as Victoria’s regional train system strained under the combined weight of a long weekend, school holidays and fare-free services.Reports of overcrowding on V/Line services escalated on Friday and Saturday as public holiday timetables reduced services, amid increased demand after the state government introducing free travel during April. Continue reading...

State upper house MP runs unopposed after initially being dropped during a preselection challenge. Follow today’s news liveGood morning, and happy Monday. Nick Visser here to take you through the day’s news. Let’s dive in. Continue reading...

Richard Blumenthal says company acts like it has ‘get-out-of-jail-free card’ as records show it upping fees to cut lossesTicketmaster quietly raised other fees after US crackdown on hidden chargesSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailSenators slammed Ticketmaster for raising ticket fees following a regulatory crackdown on hidden charges as revealed in a report by the Guardian last week.The Federal Trade Commission last May began requiring Ticketmaster to disclose concert ticket fees upfront – a practice known as all-in pricing. The company eliminated the order processing fee it charged at the the end of a transaction to comply with the rule. Continue reading...

Reversal of fortune comes just one week after she was dumped in favour of Dinesh Gourisetty, who then withdrew his nominationGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMoira Deeming will secure a top spot on the Victorian Liberal party’s upper house ticket unopposed – less than a week after members voted to dump her – after the withdrawal of candidates from a re-run ballot.Deeming was on Sunday ousted from the number one spot for the western metropolitan region by Dinesh Gourisetty. Continue reading...

Potential challengers given only 36 hours to prepare for a rerun after the winner was deemed ineligibleFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMoira Deeming could secure the top spot on a Victorian Liberal ticket – if she still wants it – after potential challengers were given only 36 hours to prepare nominations for a rerun preselection ballot, in what some insiders call a “stitch up”.It came after Deeming was on Sunday ousted from the number one spot for the western metropolitan region by Dinesh Gourisetty. But by Monday night, the Victorian Liberal party executive resolved to hold a fresh preselection, after Gourisetty was deemed ineligible to stand as a candidate at the November state election due to a character reference he provided for a friend convicted of sexually assaulting a child. Continue reading...

Aaround 5% of tickets will cost more than $1,000Tickets for general public to go on sale on 9 AprilTickets for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games will go on sale to the general public on 9 April, organizers said on Monday, as LA28 also moved to reassure fans over ticket security by naming a group of verified resale platforms.A presale for residents in qualifying areas of Los Angeles and Oklahoma City, which will host softball and canoe slalom events, will begin on 2 April. Continue reading...

Documents obtained by Guardian show company increased different fees to ‘offset revenue loss’ from FTC rule changeFollowing a wave of regulations banning the surprise fees that appear at the end of a transaction, Ticketmaster stopped charging the extra few dollars it added to each order at checkout. Typically shared with the venue, the order processing fee was a boon to a global platform that sells hundreds of millions of tickets a year.But documents obtained by the Guardian show that while Ticketmaster eliminated this fee to comply with the rules, the company simply raised the cost of different fees in a number of its venues to ensure it didn’t lose money. Continue reading...