Jury finds Live Nation, Ticketmaster had the power to fight off competition at major concert venues
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A judge found that concert giant Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster had a dangerous monopoly on major concert venues, causing the company to lose a lawsuit brought by dozens of US states.
A Manhattan jury deliberated for four days before reaching its decision Wednesday in the highly anticipated case, which gave fans the equivalent of a stage pass to the business that dominates live entertainment in the US and beyond.
At the end of the trial, the judge told lawyers for both sides to meet “together with the United States” to submit a joint letter proposing a plan of pleas and how the remedies phase of the case would take place. He said to bring them late next week.
Live Nation Entertainment owns, operates, controls the bookings or has an equity interest in hundreds of venues. Its subsidiary Ticketmaster is widely regarded as the world’s largest live event ticket seller.
Its lawyers did not comment when they left the court but said they would issue a statement soon.
Live Nation called ‘independent bully’
The civil suit, originally led by the US federal government, accused Live Nation of using its reach to eliminate competition – by blocking venues from using multiple ticket sellers, for example.
“It’s time for them to be held accountable,” said Jeffrey Kessler, the state’s attorney, in a closing statement. He called Live Nation a “lonely bully” that raised prices for ticket buyers.
Live Nation argued that it is not a monopoly, saying that artists, sports teams and venues determine prices and ticketing procedures. A representative of the company said that its size was a result of professionalism and effort.
“Success does not violate the antitrust laws of the United States,” attorney David Marriott said in a statement.
Ticketmaster was founded in 1976 and merged with Live Nation in 2010. The company now controls 86 percent of the concert market and 73 percent of the overall market when sporting events are included, Kessler said.
Ticketmaster has long been the subject of criticism from fans and certain artists. Grunge rock stars Pearl Jam battled the business in the 1990s, even filing a counterclaim with the US Department of Justice, which declined to prosecute at the time.
Decades later, the Department of Justice, joined by several states, brought the case during the administration of former US president Joe Biden. Days before the trial, President Donald Trump’s administration announced it was settling its claims against Live Nation.
The deal included a service charge for some theaters, as well as other new ticketing options for promoters and venues — which may, but not necessarily, allow them to open doors to Ticketmaster competitors like SeatGeek or AXS. But the settlement does not force Live Nation to part with Ticketmaster.
A number of states have joined this area. But more than 30 have gone ahead with the lawsuit, saying the federal government didn’t get enough approval from Live Nation.
The case brought Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino to the witness stand, where he was questioned about issues including the company’s 2022 Taylor Swift ticketing conflict, which saw Ticketmaster overwhelmed by demand and plagued by technology failures. Rapino blamed cyber attacks.
The lawsuit also aired internal messages from a Live Nation executive calling the prices “outrageous,” calling customers “stupid” and boasting that the company was “blinding them, baby.” The official, Benjamin Baker, apologized that the messages were “immature and unacceptable.”
