Ticketmaster Subpoenaed Over Ties To Resellers

Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. is facing a number of subpoenas over alegations of forcing fans to purchase marked-up tickets being sold through Ticketmaster's resale wing, TicketNow, for two recent Bruce Springsteen concerts.

The famed ticketing company is being forced to turn over information regarding the relationship between Ticketmaster andTicketsNow, broker clients and their sales activities. The formal inquiries come from the United States Department of Justice, the New Jersey Attorney General's office, the Federal Trade Commission, the Canadian Competition Bureau, as well as other goverment agencies.

Allegations first surfaced as news from thousands of fans who were unable to access the Ticketmaster website when tickets for the Springsteen concerts were first released. Fans stated they were redirected to the TicketsNow resale site, where the tickets were available at a higher, marked-up price.

Tickemaster emailed an alert to hundreds of brokers notifying them of the subpoena demands. The email was then posted online by TicketNews.com.

Ticketmaster recently announced its intentions to merge with concert promoter Live Nation. Such an arrangement has sparked a heightened level of interest in the company and its practices.

The ticketing agency handles tickets for hundreds of theatre productions around the country, including several on Broadway; Disney's The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, West Side Story, and Wicked to name only a few.