Live Nation, Ticketmaster Denies Justice Department’s Monopoly Claims in Antitrust Lawsuit

Live Nation disputes the Justice Department’s claims that it maintains a monopoly on the live entertainment industry, defended its controversial merger with Ticketmaster and argued that splitting the company would not result in lower concert ticket prices.

On Thursday, May 23, the Department of Justice, along with 30 state and district attorneys, filed a major antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation (the largest concert promoter and venue operator) and Ticketmaster (the largest ticket sales company). The lawsuit alleged that the 2010 merger of the two companies gave Live Nation-Ticketmaster “power over performers, venues and independent promoters in a manner that harmed competition.” They further claim that the merger stifled competition and innovation, leaving fans in the U.S. with “outdated technology” and higher ticket prices than fans in other countries.

In a statement, Live Nation executive vice president Dan Wall rejected the allegations, saying the antitrust lawsuit “attempts to paint Live Nation and Ticketmaster as the cause of fan frustration in the live entertainment industry.” In his statement, he repeated many of the arguments Live Nation has made in its defense since the 2022 disclosure of the Justice Department’s investigation into the company and as rumors of an impending antitrust lawsuit have grown this year.

The most important of these arguments is that neither Live Nation nor Ticketmaster set or control ticket prices – artists and their bands do. Wall said the antitrust lawsuit “ignores everything that is actually responsible for higher ticket prices,” such as higher production costs, artist popularity, online ticket scalping and secondary resale markets.

As for Ticketmaster’s infamous fees, which have long frustrated fans, Wall stated that Ticketmaster “only keeps a modest portion of these fees” and that its commission rates are significantly lower than many other digital retailers (including popular ticket resale platform StubHub ). Live Nation argues that just as artists set ticket prices, venues set and maintain most ticket fees – although in many cases that means Live Nation sets and maintains those fees. As the Justice Department notes, Live Nation “owns or controls” more than 265 concert venues in North America, including more than 60 premier amphitheaters in the U.S.

Still, Wall argued that Ticketmaster’s relatively lower service fees are evidence that it does not exercise monopoly power because “the defining feature of a monopolist is monopoly profits derived from monopoly price list” Wall further noted that Live Nation’s overall net profit margin (1.4% for the fiscal year ending February 2024) is significantly lower than that of many other conglomerates and that Live Nation and Ticketmaster face much stiffer competition in the market than the Department of Justice. claims.

“Each year, industry competition forces Live Nation to earn lower revenues from both concert promotions and ticket sales,” Wall said. “The company is profitable and growing because it helps grow the industry, not because it has market power.”

Wall’s statement ended with a shot at the Justice Department, which he claimed “didn’t want to believe the numbers” the company was showing them. “The data was too inconsistent with their preconceived notion that Live Nation was among the other ‘tech monopolies’ they were targeting,” he said, adding: “It is also clear that we are yet another victim of this administration’s decision to delegate law enforcement antitrust to a populist drive that simply rejects how antitrust law works. Some call it “antitrust,” but in reality it is simply antibusiness.