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NIVA Takes Action Pressuring Yelp to Cuts Ties with Secondary Ticket Scalpers in Open Letter to CEO

August 29, 2024 - By Dana Slattery

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The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) supports and advocates for independent venues and promoters, focusing on fair ticketing and preserving live music. The organization made headlines this week after publiclally urging Yelp to stop enabling the sale of fake and overpriced tickets through a secondary ticketer; Yelp wasted no time in responding to the claims by ending the integration almost immedialtey.

NIVA executive director Stephen Parker's letter to Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman raised concern toward Yelp for allowing "predatory ticket resellers" to mislead users. Parker wrote, "Your site redirects users from purchasing legitimate tickets at face value from small businesses and nonprofits, instead sending them to a Yelp-branded TicketNetwork website that is price gouging and selling fake tickets."

Within two hours of the letter's release, Yelp announced it would cut ties with TicketNetwork. A Yelp spokesperson stated, We appreciate NIVA highlighting their concerns and have acted swiftly to end the integration.

TicketNetwork defended its platform, claiming it offers fair pricing and guarantees on tickets, and criticized NIVA's efforts as attempts to support Live Nation's monopoly.

CashorTrade.org proudly partners with NIVA's dedication to ethical ticketing and transparency. Our face value ticketing platform shares NIVA's goal of combating deceptive practices & enhancing the concert experience for both fans and venues.