[Slowhand] Pascrell's Bill Will Aim To Curb Secondary Ticket Market

[eddypauley at aol.com]

Pascrell's Bill Will Aim To Curb Secondary Ticket Market 
Friday, Feb. 27, 2009
  
Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., who was among the first on Capitol Hill to publicly express concerns about a pending $2.5 billion merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster, plans to introduce legislation that would ban the use of automated ticketing programs and attempt to reign in the secondary ticket market. Pascrell testified before a House Judiciary Courts and Competition Policy Subcommittee hearing Thursday after a similar examination was held by the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee this week.
 
The forthcoming bill comes on the heels of a request he made this month for the FTC to launch an investigation into Ticketmaster's relationship with TicketsNow.com. In a widely publicized dust-up, Bruce Springsteen fans trying to buy tickets to the rocker's upcoming shows said that Ticketmaster directed them to its affiliate site that sells seats at a premium. Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff blamed the incident on a computer malfunction.
 
A Pascrell aide said the bill should be introduced within weeks and talks are under way with several senators who might sponsor companion legislation. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., has been one of the most outspoken critics of the merger on his side of the Hill and has argued that Ticketmaster should immediately sell TicketsNow.
 
Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl, D-Wis., has no plans to introduce legislation in the near term but is reviewing the subject and the policy of paperless ticketing, a spokeswoman said.
 
Pascrell said the Springsteen flap is the opening act for what consumers could face if the merger is successful. "You don't have to have a Ph.D. in economics to see this for what it is: a naked attempt to dominate the concert marketplace," he said. Pascrell argued the combined entity would control nearly every aspect of the live music business "all the way down to the hot dogs and beer."
 
Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino, whose company has 140 music venues and more than 300 arenas, tried to downplay the firm's dominance.
 
He said his publicly held company's market share was 35 percent last year, its market cap is $250 million and it operates in "a highly competitive marketplace." Azoff, whose company processed more than 280 million tickets in 2007, argued the merger is designed to eliminate inefficiencies in the entertainment supply chain. The Justice Department antitrust division has confirmed that it is examining the arrangement.
 
by Andrew Noyes
 National Journals CongressDaily
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