Why California's fight over ticket fraud has become a proxy war against Ticketmaster and Live Nation

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A year ago, Colorado firefighters Rick Balentine and Tim Cottrell were driving trucks carrying donations from Aspen to Los Angeles for victims of the Eaton and Palisades fires.As they headed west, they planned to stop in Las Vegas and, while there, made a spontaneous decision to see the Eagles’ residency at the Sphere.

Balentine and Cottrell bought resale tickets on StubHub for around $400 each.Cottrell used his credit card and received a confirmation email.

But once they arrived to the venue, they weren’t allowed in.The seller failed to send the tickets.

All Cottrell could find was an email that said his tickets had been canceled, moments before the concert was to start.Other than getting their money back, there was no further explanation.“We knew they were aftermarket tickets,” Balentine said, “but never in a million years did I think that tickets could get canceled.”“I was very disappointed.

There needs to be more protection out there, both for consumers and for artists, so people aren’t getting ripped off all the time.” The rising demand for tickets has spurred a growing marketplace for all kinds of high-profile live events, including music tours and sports series like the upcoming World Cup.Whenever fans are unable to secure tickets on the primary market, through sellers like Ticketmaster or AXS, many will turn to the secondary market for resale tickets.

Those tickets are typically sold through platforms like StubHub, SeatGeek and Vivid Seats.Customers who bought their passes directly from Ticketmaster can also resell them on that platform.The majority of secondary-market transactions can be easy, leaving both the reseller and the customer satisfied.

But with the rise of speculative or fake tickets, like the ones Balentine and Cottrell bought, securing valid tickets from the resale market has become more challenging.Speculative tickets are offered ...