Tennessee AG Joins Another Justice Department Antitrust Case, This Time Against Ticketmaster Owner Live Nation • Tennessee Lookout

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has joined the U.S. Department of Justice in a lawsuit accusing Live Nation Entertainment, the owner of Ticketmaster, of maintaining an illegal monopoly in the live event ticketing industry.

The U.S. Department of Justice and 29 other states are calling for the company’s dissolutionaccusing Live Nation of using its dominant position in the ticket sales market to create a “self-perpetuating cycle” that not only harms consumers but also restricts competition.

The Justice Department has filed several high-profile antitrust cases under the Biden administration, accusing companies like Apple and Google of operating as illegal monopolies in certain markets. The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office signed both cases with the federal government.

In the Live Nation case, the government alleges that the company forces venues to sign long-term exclusive contracts by threatening to lose access to company-controlled tours and artists if they go to competitors.

The company then uses these contracts to force the artist to choose it as a promoter over other companies. Once a company gains exclusive control over an artist and a tour, it harms fans by making Ticketmaster the exclusive place to purchase tickets and charging exorbitant fees, the Justice Department argues. Finally, these fees are used to shut down artists and venues, starting the process all over again.

Ticketmaster has denied the government’s allegations about its business practices, adding that the case “will not solve fans’ concerns about ticket prices, service fees and access to popular programming.”

“Calling Ticketmaster a monopoly may be a PR victory for the Justice Department in the short term, but it will lose in court because it ignores basic principles of the live entertainment economy, such as the fact that most service fees go to venues and that competition continues to erode Ticketmaster’s share of the market and profit margin,” Dan Wall, Live Nation’s executive vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs, said in a statement.