The ticket retailer alleges the online auction house and its subsidiary violated contractual rights to sell tickets, a newspaper reports.
April 19 2007: 3:25 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The world's largest ticket retailer, Ticketmaster, has sued eBay Inc. and its StubHub subsidiary, alleging that the online auction leader violated the company's contractual rights, according to a published report Thursday.
The suit filed by Ticketmaster, a subsidiary of IAC/InterActiveCorp. (down $0.23 to $38.31, Charts, Fortune 500), said eBay's (down $1.25 to $33.20, Charts, Fortune 500) StubHub is currently selling "official premium tickets" to an upcoming concert, which violates the ticket retailer's exclusive rights to sell tickets to events at the venues on tour, The Wall Street Journal reported. Video More video Dozens of Cubans gather in Havana for a freestyle rap concert. (April 10) Play video
The suit charges that sales of tickets from StubHub to the Lynyrd Skynyrd and Hank Williams Jr. "Rowdy Frynds" tour on May 5 in Charleston, W. Va., were selling for $250 each. Ticketmaster's highest ticket price for the tour is $70.
The company is seeking all of StubHub's revenue from the "Rowdy Frynds" tour, in addition to punitive damages and a permanent injunction preventing future business practices that violate the company's contractual rights, the Journal said.
The suit also charges that StubHub, along with other unnamed parties, threatened various client venues to obtain tickets, telling them they "might not be considered as venues for future live-entertainment events," the Journal reported.
According to the Journal, the suit did not mention how many tickets were involved, but it alleges the practices were "part of a larger scheme to diminish Ticketmaster's role in the sale of tickets."
The Journal reported a StubHub spokesman said it would be "premature" for the company to comment because it had not seen the documents.
Efforts to reach StubHub by CNNMoney.com were not immediately successful. Top of page
04/23/2007 10:15 AM ID: 61975 eBay's StubHub Sued for Fraud
Ticketmaster filed a suit in Los Angeles last week, claiming that eBay's ticket-selling service StubHub obtained premium tickets via fraudulent means. The suit reads that StubHub pressured artists' reps to demand tickets from clients of Ticketmaster.
StubHub said in a statement that, "the lawsuit filed by Ticketmaster is without merit and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves against these unsubstantiated claims." Ticketmaster does hold exclusive contracts with some venues.
The suit states that the company agreements "generally do not permit its clients to utilize or authorize the use of the services of another ticketing company, such as StubHub." Ticketmaster also runs its own ticket auction site, ticketexchange.com.
EBay buying StubHub was a HUGE conflict of interest, IMO. Every time I try to sell tickets on eBay, there's a big ad on the side of the page for StubHub. EBay will do anything for a buck. I always thought StubHub tickets were way overpriced, so I never used them anyway. As far as Ticketbastard suing eBay, well that's a hard choice for me to root for either one. EBay is greedy, but Ticketbastard is even greedier than they are, if that's possible. Ticketbastard charges 15% to 20% "convenience" fees for each ticket you buy. What a ripoff. Their new thing is to save the good seats for auctions on their website. How disgusting is that? But I guess I'll pull for them, since eBay needs to shed some of their huge Paypal profits to knock them down a peg. Go Ticketbastard!