The U.S. Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit on October 15 against ticket reseller REPS & Company and three executives, accusing them of defeating online purchasing restrictions to acquire millions of tickets. The case was brought in federal court in Southern California following a Federal Trade Commission referral.
The suit also names chief operating officer Nicholas Totagrande, CEO Ryan Pancheri and REPS president Brian Archibald. The complaint alleges that, since at least 2022, they bought more than eight tickets each for at least 83,500 events. It puts spending on those purchases above $1.3 billion, the number of tickets above 18.5 million and resale profits at no less than $120.8 million.
One example concerns a 2023 Beyonce concert in Kansas City. The government alleges that at least 1,300 accounts were used to obtain 7,624 tickets, yielding about $833,000 in resale profit.
The lawsuit invokes the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, which prohibits evading technical safeguards used to enforce ticket limits and certain resales of tickets obtained through that conduct. Ticketmaster and AXS use quantity restrictions and checks on account identities, payment details and internet addresses to identify connected purchases, the complaint says.
According to the filing, REPS supplied purchasers with thousands of accounts combining other people's names and addresses with company-controlled payment cards and phone numbers. Employees and outside partners had agreements allowing REPS to use their names and addresses. Most of its ticket-buying employees were in the Philippines, the government alleges.
The complaint also describes proxy services and browsers capable of running separate sessions that concealed purchasers' locations and identities, including to overcome geographic restrictions. Banks of SIM cards allegedly helped the company collect verification codes across its many accounts.
When issuers blocked or cancelled purchases, REPS allegedly adjusted account names, addresses or payment information. The filing describes internal guidance and testing aimed at keeping purchases successful despite issuer controls.
The government says these methods reduced consumers' opportunities to buy directly at lower prices before tickets were resold at a markup. It is asking the court for an injunction, monetary relief and civil penalties. Those are requested remedies, and the accusations remain for the court to decide. The FTC's referral vote was 2-0.