'The Boss' spoke out, now Ticketmaster settles with New Jersey

by mtammas | February 24, 2009 at 08:29 pm

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After Bruce Springsteen criticized Ticketmaster for its questionable resale practices through its TicketsNow site, event goers complained en masse. Now the Attorney General of New Jersey and Ticketmaster have reached an agreement that includes the delinking of the Ticketmaster and TicketsNow sites.

WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Ticketmaster (TKTM.O) settled with New Jersey to resolve more than 2,000 complaints over the company's handling of ticket sales to see Bruce Springsteen concerts, the New Jersey attorney general's office said on Monday.

The Springsteen uproar exploded just days before Ticketmaster announced that it would buy Live Nation, the world's largest promoting company which had been trying to enter the ticket sales market.

The problems gave the ticketing giant a public relations black eye just as the Justice Department was set to begin probing the merger to assess its legality under antitrust law.

Boss fans will benefit from the settlement due to a random draw that will enable 1,000 people to buy two tickets to Springsteen's May concert in NJ with all Ticketmaster fees waived.

Perhaps the American decision foreshadows a similar outcome to a class-action lawsuit launched earlier this month in Ontario challenging the legality of the Ticketmaster/TicketsNow connection.

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