By 
More than two dozen Taylor Swift fans sued Ticketmaster in a California court for anticompetitive and fraudulent behavior after they alleged the company blocked them from buying tickets this past month to the musician’s concerts.
In the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the fans said Ticketmaster knew the sale would be plagued with issues in part because it had let too many people access the presale.
The lawsuit was among the first filed by Swift’s fans since the sale for the “Eras Tour” drew national attention in November. The website for Ticketmaster, one of the few places to get tickets for Swift’s U.S. tour, crashed repeatedly during the presale as millions of fans swarmed the site. They waited for hours in virtual queues and in the end many were never able to purchase tickets.
“Ticketmaster intentionally and purposefully misled ticket purchasers,” the lawsuit said. Fans, and some politicians, directed their anger at Ticketmaster over what they said was its monopolistic practices and faulty technology in the wake of the problems. The company, which merged with Live Nation
LYV,
-0.05%
in 2010, is the dominant ticket seller in the U.S.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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