Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and subsidiary Ticketmaster LLC asked a U.S. judge on Friday to halt a proposed consumer class action over their sales of Taylor Swift concert tickets and instead force claims to be heard privately in arbitration.
The companies are hoping to head off a lawsuit in Los Angeles, California, federal court accusing them of violating antitrust and consumer protection laws.
Demand from fans, scalpers and bots for Swift’s first tour in five years caused the Ticketmaster site to crash last fall, and raised new scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and others about what critics say is a lack of competition in the ticketing market….