DOJ Sues Broker That Allegedly Netted $120M Flipping Tickets to Beyoncé & More Tours
The government continues its BOTS Act enforcement spree with another lawsuit against a ticket broker — this time, one that allegedly worked at a far greater scale.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit against a San Diego-based ticket broker, REPS & Co., accusing them of profiting from the illegal resale of over 18.5 million concert tickets since 2022, generating an alleged profit of $120 million. The lawsuit, initiated on October 15, seeks unspecified financial penalties under the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act.
The BOTS Act, enacted in 2016, prohibits the circumvention of primary ticket issuers' security measures. President Trump has made enforcement of this law a priority since 2025. The DOJ aims to punish REPS for allegedly hiring offshore employees in the Philippines to create thousands of Ticketmaster and AXS accounts in others' names.
They allegedly use analytics software and data scraping to target high-demand concerts, such as Beyoncé's 2023 Renaissance tour and shows by Luke Bryan and Post Malone. One instance involves the purchase of 5,430 tickets for a single Pitbull show at Empower FCU Amphitheater in 2024, comprising nearly one-third of the venue's capacity.
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