Federal Trade Commission takes legal action against ticket reseller accused of circumventing limits set by Taylor Swift's Eras tour ticket sales
The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a lawsuit against Key Investment Group, a ticket reseller based in Baltimore, Maryland, and its executives. The legal action, currently pending in U.S. District Court, alleges that the company and its affiliates have violated federal law by using unlawful tactics to bypass ticket purchase limits on Ticketmaster, buying hundreds of thousands of tickets for events like Taylor Swift's Eras Tour and reselling them at a markup to generate millions in profit.
Key Investment Group, which operates ticket resale sites such as TotalTickets.com, has publicly stated it will "vigorously defend itself" against the FTC's claims. The company disputes the agency's characterization of its ticket purchasing methods and asserts that the FTC's legal actions represent regulatory overreach that threatens the secondary ticket market.
As of August 26, 2025, no final court decision or settlement has been announced, and the case remains active. The FTC is pursuing enforcement under the FTC Act and the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act to prevent circumvention of ticket purchase limits and unfair resale practices.
According to the FTC, Key Investment Group and associated companies bought at least 379,776 tickets, spending nearly $57 million and reselling for about $64 million. The lawsuit names Key Investment Group LLC and affiliates Epic Seats, TotalTickets.com LLC, Totally Tix LLC, and executives Yair D. Rozmaryn (CEO), Elan N. Rozmaryn (CFO), and Taylor Kurth (Chief Strategic Officer).
The FTC's enforcement is part of a broader effort, including a 2025 executive order, to police unfair and anti-competitive conduct in ticket reselling. The lawsuit against Key Investment Group is part of a crackdown announced by President Donald Trump in March, focused on curbing exploitative ticket reselling practices.
The botched sale of tickets to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour resulted in billions of requests from Swift fans, bots, and ticket resellers overwhelming Ticketmaster's website, causing a planned ticket sale to the general public to be canceled. The FTC alleges that for one Swift concert, Key Investment Group used 49 different accounts to purchase 273 tickets and evade a 6-ticket purchase limit.
Key Investment Group sued the FTC in July to block its investigation, claiming that its ticket purchases did not use automated software (bots) and did not violate the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act. The FTC's lawsuit aims to put ticket sellers on notice that the agency will go after those who circumvent ticketing platforms' limits on ticket sales.
Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment (LYV), are facing a separate lawsuit brought by U.S. antitrust enforcers, accusing the company of monopolizing markets across the live concert industry. The FTC's lawsuit against Key Investment Group is part of a larger push to ensure fair and competitive practices in the ticket reselling market. The case is ongoing, with no resolution reached to date.
- Despite the ongoing legal action, Key Investment Group, a ticket reseller, has vigorously defended itself against the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) claims, asserting that its ticket purchasing methods do not violate federal law and that the FTC's actions threaten the secondary ticket market.
- The FTC is pursuing enforcement against Key Investment Group in the sports and entertainment industry, aiming to prevent circumvention of ticket purchase limits and unfair resale practices, following the botched sale of tickets to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, which resulted in a crackdown on exploitative ticket reselling practices.
