The difference is that people disliking Ticketmaster is actually a feature of their brand. The vast majority goes to the artist, but Ticketmaster takes a lot of blame for high prices, and everyone wins.
I would say less on the artist side and more on the sports side. Artists at minimum pay lip service to prevent scalping and some appear to at least try and avoid scalping (by requiring cardholder to be present for example)
Edit: also want to add that no one thinks Lebron James is having a hand in setting ticketing policies whereas Taylor Swift probably has someone asking for her input
Eh, I don't know how much of a say artists have either. Back in the '90s, Pearl Jam tried to get the price on their tickets down and ended up canceling the tour and pursuing antitrust charges against Ticketmaster.
It's more of an open secret, like the way certain terms are obscured by EULAs. The information is there for anyone who wants to look into it, but most people don't care or don't have the incentive to investigate. The important thing is to have a buffer to make certain details less obvious to the majority of customers without appearing dishonest.
