Federal prosecutors allege that San Diego-based REPS & Co used bots and other illicit tactics to buy roughly 18.5 million tickets across at least 83,000 events, spending more than $1.3 billion and then reselling tickets at scale for at least $120.8 million in profit. The complaint says the company identified high-demand shows with software, sidestepped per-customer purchase limits, and listed bulk lots on resale marketplaces including Ticketmaster’s resale, StubHub, SeatGeek, Vivid Seats and Gametime. Specific examples cited include purchasing 7,624 tickets for a Beyoncé Renaissance concert at Arrowhead Stadium on Oct. 1, 2023 - using about 1,300 accounts and earning roughly $833,323 - and buying 5,430 tickets for a Pitbull show in Syracuse on Sept. 7, 2024 via about 700 accounts, representing nearly one-third of that venue’s capacity and netting about $120,109.
The Justice Department filed a 22-page lawsuit under the BOTS Act, accusing the firm of systematically evading limits meant to protect consumers and artists and seeking enforcement alongside the FTC. Prosecutors frame the case as part of a broader crackdown on large-scale scalping operations that inflate ticket prices; outreach to REPS was not answered, and the government emphasizes continued efforts to hold businesses accountable for using technology to monopolize access to high-demand events.
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