On 20 September 2018 the Italian Competition Authority decided to open an investigation into TicketOne S.p.A. and its parent company, the German CTS Eventim AG & Co. KGaA, to establish whether they have violated Article 102 of the TFEU through an of abuse of dominant position.
TicketOne, which holds a dominant position in the market for ticketing services for live music events (pop and rock concerts), has allegedly implemented an exclusive strategy to tie the most important promoters of live music events active in Italy to its ticketing platform, thereby preventing its competitors from gaining access to tickets, i.e. to the necessary input to compete on the market. The exclusivity clause contained in the contracts between promoters and TicketOne is particularly stringent with respect to the online channel, which is currently the main means of selling tickets for this type of events.
This abusive strategy could also harm final consumers, as by hindering the presence of competing platforms TicketOne is able to charge higher pre-sale prices for live music events tickets and to limit consumers' choice between different ticketing services providers.
The investigation must be concluded by 31 December 2019.
The two companies were informed of the ICA’s decision today, 26 September 2018, during a series of dawn-raids carried out in cooperation with the Special Antitrust Unit of the Italian Guardia di Finanza.

Rome, 26 September 2018