Ticket Site Fandango Sues Rival Moviefone

Online movie ticketing site Fandango.com has sued AOL Time Warner Inc.’s rival service Moviefone, alleging that it interfered with a ticketing deal with the Loews Cineplex theater chain in a way that threatened the site’s survival as a business.

The suit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles, claims Moviefone negotiated with Loews to abandon the theater chain’s exclusive agreement for advanced ticketing with Fandango in favor of a competing deal with Moviefone.

“The suit is baseless, and we plan to vigorously contest the allegations in court,” said Jim Whitney, an AOL spokesman.

Fandango seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages, as well as an order to prevent Moviefone from providing any ticketing services to Loews during the term of Fandango’s contract.