Judge dismisses StubHub’s lawsuit against Warriors, Ticketmaster
A federal judge dismissed StubHub’s antitrust lawsuit against the Golden State Warriors and Ticketmaster on Thursday, ESPN reports.
StubHub filed the lawsuit in March, claiming that the Warriors and Ticketmaster were “conspiring to create an illegal resale market” by informing season ticket holders that tickets could only be resold through Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster signed a contract with the Warriors in 2012 making it the official ticket resale platform for the team.
The judge, U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney, wrote in her decision that StubHub’s claims were unsupported by evidence and legal precedent.
“The native monopoly every manufacturer has in the production and sale of its own product cannot be the basis for antitrust liability,” Chesney wrote.
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The year after Ticketmaster signed its contract with the Warriors, StubHub claimed 80% fewer Golden State tickets were listed on its site and that sales of those tickets had decreased by 45%. The drop in numbers provoked the company to file the lawsuit, but the Warriors contended that they are protected by the terms and conditions regarding ticket licensing and sale agreed to by fans.
StubHub spokesman Glenn Lehrman said in a statement that the company will decide soon how it will respond to the lawsuit’s dismissal. An amended complaint must be filed by the end of November.
- Erin Flynn
