Dr. Timothy Snail provided economic analysis of class certification issues on behalf of Ticketmaster in a high-profile antitrust class action lawsuit in a Canadian court. Plaintiffs alleged that Ticketmaster engaged in conduct that is intended to encourage the resale of tickets on secondary ticket exchanges at elevated prices. Based on these allegations, plaintiffs asserted violations of provincial and federal laws. Plaintiffs seek to represent a class of individuals who purchased tickets on secondary ticket exchanges, and are pursuing a variety of remedies, including compensatory damages, punitive damages, restitution, disgorgement of profits or revenues, attorneys’ fees, costs and pre-judgment and post-judgment interest.
The CRA team’s analyses established that plaintiffs—who focused on differences between primary and secondary ticket prices—did not develop a plausible methodology for estimating the damages caused by the alleged conduct on a class-wide basis, and crucial stages of the proposed damages calculation are infeasible. The matter is Stacey Thompson-Marcial and Brian Smith v. Ticketmaster LLC and Ticketmaster Canada LP, Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
