Regina-based hidden fees lawsuit against Ticketmaster formally settled

WATCH: A lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company has reached its formal settlement over “drip pricing.”

A lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company headed up by a Regina lawyer has reached its formal settlement over so-called “drip pricing.”

The class-action lawsuit from Regina-based lawyer Tony Merchant was filed in 2018 before reaching a settlement in 2024. A judge approved the settlement in late December.

“Drip pricing means you phone and you think you’re going to pay $229 for a ticket, and then they tell you, you have to pay a stage fee, and then they tell you have to pay a parking fee,” Merchant told CTV News following December’s approval.

“So, you’re on the computer, you thought you could buy for $229 and you end up buying for $290. The problem is you can’t really disconnect and come in again because all the tickets will be gone.”

“So, it unfairly tricked people into paying more money for really the same thing,” Merchant added.

• Ticketmaster hidden fees settlement credits expected in 2025 following class-action lawsuit by Regina lawyer

The settlement will see a Ticketmaster $45 credit given to people who bought tickets in Canada between Jan. 1, 2018 and June 30, 2018.

In total, the settlement is worth just over $6 million.

In addition to the credits for members of the suit, the representative plaintiff has been awarded an honorarium of $25,000.

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The defendant, Live Nation Entertainment, denied any wrongdoing in the case but agreed to what its lawyers called “a fair and reasonable settlement.”

Merchant told CTV News in December those eligible to receive the settlement can expect to receive notifications about the credit sometime in 2025.

According to court documents, over 3.2 million potential class members were sent notice of the settlement agreement.

As a result of six years of work on the lawsuit, the legal counsel for the plaintiffs are set to receive more than $1.7 million in legal fees.

“While this case does not involve a mega-settlement, it has proved to be a legitimate consumer protection lawsuit which could only have been viably prosecuted as a class action,” Judge G.G. Mitchell wrote in his decision.

“Class counsel deserve an economic incentive for pursuing this claim to its successful resolution.”

-With files from Ryan White and Joey Slattery