On August 18, 2025, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unleashed a legal firestorm against Key Investment Group, a Baltimore-based ticket reseller, accusing the company of using elaborate schemes to buy up hundreds of thousands of tickets to high-demand live events—including Taylor Swift’s record-shattering Eras Tour—and reselling them at steep markups. The lawsuit, filed in Maryland federal court, marks the most aggressive government action yet in an intensifying battle over how concert tickets are bought and sold in America.
According to Reuters, the FTC alleges that Key Investment Group, operating under several brand names such as Epic Seats, TotalTickets.com, and Totally Tix, deployed thousands of fictitious Ticketmaster accounts, virtual and traditional credit cards, proxy or spoofed IP addresses, and SIM boxes to skirt Ticketmaster’s ticket purchase limits. For one Las Vegas Eras Tour show in March 2023, the company used 49 different accounts to purchase 273 tickets, blowing past the six-ticket-per-customer cap. The agency says this was no isolated incident: between November 2022 and December 2023, Key Investment Group acquired nearly 380,000 tickets, spending about $57 million and reselling them for approximately $64 million.
The tactics, the FTC says, were not just creative—they were illegal. The complaint accuses Key Investment Group and three of its executives of violating both the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act and the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair and deceptive business practices. As The Hollywood Reporter details, the BOTS Act was originally passed in 2016 to crack down on the use of computer scripts—so-called "bots"—that snap up tickets before real fans have a chance. But the FTC argues the law also covers anyone who circumvents security measures, regardless of whether they use bots or human employees.
Key Investment Group, for its part, is not backing down. In a statement reported by PYMNTS and other outlets, the company said it will "vigorously defend itself" and accused the FTC of twisting the BOTS Act’s intent. "In an unprecedented move, the FTC has twisted the intent of the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act, a law designed to target malicious software, into a weapon against legitimate businesses and consumers," a company spokesperson said. "Under the FTC’s interpretation, anyone who purchases more than four tickets or uses more than one account could be deemed in violation of federal law. That outcome is not only illogical, it’s absurd."
Key Investment Group also claims that the FTC is mischaracterizing its use of standard internet browsers as the equivalent of deploying unlawful software. The company insists that it employs human staff, not bots, to make purchases. In July 2025, Key Investment Group even filed its own lawsuit against the FTC, arguing that the agency’s interpretation of the BOTS Act is inconsistent with the law’s text and intent, and warning that the crackdown could "dismantle the secondary ticket market for live events, further consolidating power in the hands of the industry’s largest monopoly."
The FTC’s move is part of a wider crackdown announced by President Donald Trump in March 2025. With Kid Rock by his side in the Oval Office, Trump signed an executive order directing federal officials to ensure ticket resellers comply with Internal Revenue Service rules, enforce price transparency in ticket sales, and take action against unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market. The order also prompted the FTC and the Department of Justice to open a public comment period in May 2025, seeking input on alleged unfair and anti-competitive practices in the live event ticketing industry.
FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson, in a statement cited by multiple outlets including The Hollywood Reporter and Reuters, was unequivocal: "President Trump made it clear in his March executive order that unscrupulous middlemen who harm fans and jack up prices through anticompetitive methods will hear from us. Today’s action puts brokers on notice that the Trump-Vance FTC will police operations that unlawfully circumvent ticket sellers’ purchase limits, ensuring that consumers have an opportunity to buy tickets at fair prices."
The government’s intervention comes amid roiling tensions in the ticketing world. Ticketmaster, which is owned by Live Nation Entertainment, has long been the dominant player in the industry. The company faced a public relations disaster in 2022 after a botched sale for Swift’s Eras Tour, when billions of requests—many from bots and resellers—overwhelmed its website and forced the cancellation of a planned general sale. The fiasco led to a U.S. Senate hearing in 2023, with lawmakers grilling Ticketmaster about its inability to manage demand and enforce ticket limits.
Ticketmaster and Live Nation are themselves under fire, facing a separate antitrust lawsuit from U.S. regulators who accuse them of monopolizing the live concert industry. According to Reuters, internal Ticketmaster documents included in the FTC’s complaint reveal that by 2018, the company knew brokers like Key Investment Group were using thousands of accounts to bypass rules, but feared that stricter enforcement might cause "serious negative economic impact."
Key Investment Group’s business model, as outlined in the FTC’s filings, relied on sheer scale and technical savvy. Between March and August 2023 alone, the company bought about 2,280 tickets for 38 Eras Tour dates, reselling them for more than $1.9 million—netting over $1.2 million in profit from Swift tickets in 2023. The company also used 277 accounts to secure more than 1,500 tickets to a Bruce Springsteen show at MetLife Stadium, marking up those tickets for about $21,000 in revenue.
The FTC’s lawsuit has drawn applause from some corners of the live music world. Stephen Parker, executive director of the National Independent Venue Association, called the action "a momentous step toward finally holding ticket brokers and resale platforms accountable for violating the BOTS Act." He added, "Fans and independent stages have been waiting years for real enforcement, and we hope this marks the beginning of a new era of rigorous oversight."
But the case has also sparked debate about the future of ticketing. Key Investment Group and others argue that a healthy secondary market is essential for fans who can’t buy tickets during initial sales, and that shutting down resellers will only strengthen Ticketmaster’s grip on the industry. In July, Ticketmaster itself called on Congress to grant artists the right to limit ticket resales and cap markups at 20%, saying that ticketing platforms alone can’t combat exorbitant prices.
As the legal battle unfolds, fans, artists, and industry insiders are watching closely. The outcome could reshape not just how tickets are sold, but who gets to see their favorite artists live—and at what price. The stakes, both financial and cultural, have never been higher.
