One of antitrust’s most revered principles is that the antitrust laws “were enacted for ‘the protection of competition, not competitors.” The principle has been invoked on countless occasions when some competitor’s antitrust claim, filed ostensibly to promote consumer interests, actually served only its selfish interests. The antitrust arguments levied against Ticketmaster today by secondary ticketing companies like SeatGeek are a case in point. Resale marketplaces want antitrust law to protect their narrow commercial interests, not anything about competition or consumer welfare. Worse, those commercial interests are about high-volume ticket scalping, which is about as far from consumer welfare as one can get.
You’re sure to hear a lot of complaining from secondary sellers this week after two iconic bands – Pearl Jam and U2 – announced new shows with restricted transfer tickets. Both will use Ticketmaster Face Value Exchange, which allows fans who can’t attend the show for some reason to sell their tickets
