Scotiabank Center will use Ticketmaster exclusively in the future

The Scotiabank Center has announced that it will use Ticketmaster as its exclusive ticket provider for future events.

The venue announced the changes in a press release and said the transition will take place in the coming weeks. Customers who have tickets for upcoming events will be contacted directly if the changes affect them.

Ticketmaster, the world’s largest ticketing platform, has come under heavy scrutiny in recent months for supposedly allowing scalpers, who sometimes use automatic bots, to buy large numbers of tickets and resell them for high prices.

Following a dramatic fiasco involving ticket sales for a Taylor Swift tour, many fans have sued Ticketmaster for price-fixing, fraud and antitrust violations. The United States Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing involving Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s parent company, leading several U.S. states to enact laws regulating pricing and scalping.

In 2019, Ticketmaster paid $4.5 million to the Canadian Competition Bureau for allegedly misleading ticket prices. The agency found that Ticketmaster charged fees that added anywhere from 20 to 65 percent to prices.

Many fans took to Twitter and Instagram expressing their frustration with Scotiabank Center’s decision.

“The worst possible move,” @mylescloutier said on Twitter. “I will now never buy a ticket at the Scotiabank Center again. What a huge sale. Absolute nonsense that bows to a multinational with a near-monopoly.”

The Scotiabank Center team remained confident in their press release, stating “To be the best, we have to work with the best.”

Prior to the exclusive deal, the Scotiabank Center used several ticketing platforms, including Ticket Atlantic and Live Nation.

The press release also acknowledges that Ticketmaster was chosen for its “premium security, safety and fan engagement”.

There is currently no set date for the transition from the Scotiabank Center to Ticketmaster.