Miss out on the presale? Check out TicketStumbler.com to compare millions of sports, concert and theater tickets. Also, visit FreeOnSaleDates.com for daily ticket onsales and information.

The legal maneuvering continues in the three-year-old lawsuit by the New England Patriots against StubHub, as the secondary ticketing company was reportedly dealt a blow recently to one of its arguments. StubHub unsuccessfully tried to argue that it should not be held responsible for the actions of its users under Section 230 of the landmark Communications Decency Act. The company was seeking a partial summary judgment that would have gone a long way to thwarting the Patriots’ efforts to paint the secondary ticket company as partly liable for users buying and selling the teams’ tickets. StubHub claims it does not sell tickets itself, the company simply created a forum for others to buy or sell tickets. Read More

Ontario, Canada’s Attorney General Chris Bentley today introduced legislation that aims to restrict primary ticket sellers, such as Ticketmaster Entertainment, from reselling tickets on their own secondary ticket Web sites for more money. Ticketmaster owns ticket resale subsidiary TicketsNow, which has run afoul of some Canadian and U.S. officials because of the cozy relationship between the two. Under new provisions to the Ticket Speculation Act, the law “would prohibit related primary and secondary ticket sellers from selling tickets to the same event. An individual fine of up to $5,000 and a corporate fine of up to $50,000 would also be created for violations.” Click here to read the original Ticket Speculation Act. Read More

Barry Diller, chairman of Ticketmaster Entertainment, typically likes a good fight when it comes to business, as evidenced by his victory over John Malone and Liberty Media in the dust-up last year over the splitting up of Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp. But, in a recent interview with USA Today’s David Lieberman, Diller makes it clear that when it comes to the company’s proposed merger with Live Nation, why fight when you can just join forces? Read More

The last couple of week’s highs would be difficult to maintain at such levels in any economy, and this week’s drop of more than $2 million reflected just that. Box office totals dipped to $19,223,496 compared to the previous reporting period of $21,303,554. Brightest lights financially were the plays Mary Stuart at the Broadhurst with an increase of $93,843 and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Belasco with an increase of $71,267 over the previous reporting period. Productions reporting million-dollar figuresthis week are Wicked at the Gershwin, West Side Story at the Palace, Billy Elliot at the Imperial, The Lion King at the Minskoff and Jersey Boys at the August Wilson. The largest slide in dollar figures was seen by “The Lion King,” with a $258,232 decrease. Read More

While bassist Chi Cheng continues his long recovery from a late November car accident, his bandmates in alternative metal band Deftones are now trying to resume touring and recording in his absence. The group returned to the concert circuit this year with an April 5 performance at Bamboozle Left in Irvine, CA. The Deftones are following that performance with more time in the studio and an August tour of several major European festivals. Full details of the Deftones’ itinerary are listed below. Read More

Having endured the embarrassment of empty seats during several of its initial home games in its new stadium, the New York Yankees announced late Tuesday, April 28, that it was cutting the prices of some of its Legends Suite and other premium tickets, slashing the price of the infamous $2,500-per-game seats by 50 percent. The team, which had been hammered in the media in recent weeks over the price of the seats, made the announcement in a press release. “On Tuesday, in response to the current economy and a few hundred Suite Seats in premium locations not being sold on a full-season basis, managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner announced in a statement a program that adjusts certain prices and benefits affecting those seats.” Read More

Three-year-old viagogo, arguably Europe’s leading secondary ticket company, this week announced that it signed a deal with the French Tennis Federation that makes viagogo the official secondary ticket exchange of the French Open, the first secondary ticketing deal ever to be struck in France. The deal is a huge coup for UK-based viagogo, founded by former StubHub principal Eric Baker, in part because France is Europe’s third-largest market. It also further legitimizes viagogo, which has also struck deals to become the official secondary ticketing partner of two of England’s biggest football [soccer] clubs, Manchester United and Chelsea. Read More

In the eternal battle between rivals, Fenway Park beats out the new Yankee Stadium in TicketNews’s exclusive venues rankings for the week ending Sunday, April 26. The Park’s rise to the top is fueled by continued strong ticket sales for the Boston Red Sox, which takes the number one spot in TicketNews’Top Sports Events rankings this week as well. The venue also is helped by sales for two appearances by the Dave Matthews Band scheduled for May. Fenway Park ends the week with an impressive 3.06 power score. The Gershwin Theatre makes a move this week, jumping two spots to the number two position. This move happens as its hit musical Wicked takes top honors in this week’s Top Broadway Events, Top Theater Events and Top Events rankings. The Gershwin finishes with a power score of 2.61. Read More

The original line-up of once-reigning rock group Creed is reforming for a summer tour of the United States and a new album. Frontman Scott Stapp, guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips will perform together again in approximately 40 cities across the nation. Venues for the trek are yet to be announced, but cities and dates are lined up from the August 6 opening in Pittsburgh, PA, through the October 14 closer in Nashville, TN. Concerts are also booked for August 18 in Boston, MA; August 30 in Chicago, IL; September 19 in New Orleans, LA; and October 3 in Denver, CO, among other dates. Read More

James Hurwitz, author of a 58-page White Paper against the proposed merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation, will be one of the keynote speakers at Ticket Summit, July 15-17 at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. Hurwitz is a retiree from the Federal Trade Commission, where he specialized in competition policy matters for the Office of the General Counsel and Bureau of Competition, and he wrote the report for the American Antitrust Institute. To read the report click here. Read More