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The Department of Justice is suing Ticketmaster and Live Nation in the latest antitrust lawsuit

Posted on by darion

Top line

The Justice Department has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and parent company Live Nation, the latest example of the Biden administration’s sweeping antitrust action across markets.

Key facts

The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of New York by the Department of Justice, 29 states and Washington, D.C

The lawsuit alleges that Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which merged in 2010, used a variety of tactics to “eliminate competition and monopolize markets,” including long-term sales agreements, blocking venues from using multiple tickets and acquiring competitors.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s alleged anti-competitive behavior has resulted in fans paying more for tickets and limited opportunities for artists, smaller promoters and venues, adding: “It’s time to break up Live Nation-ticketmaster.”

Reports of the ongoing legal proceedings sent the entertainment giant’s shares tumbling during Wednesday’s post-market trading, and were down more than 5% late Thursday morning.

Live Nation sharply criticized the lawsuit in a statement on its website, saying it was “absurd to claim that Live Nation and Ticketmaster exercise monopoly power” and arguing that the company faces intense competition.

Key background

Live Nation’s merger with Ticketmaster in 2010 drew scrutiny from both regulators and fans, although the Justice Department in the settlement banned the companies from retaliating against competitors. The department found that they had breached the terms of the contract in 2019 and will reportedly launch an investigation into the companies in 2022 – after a failed attempt to introduce tickets for Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour”. The ticket mess has also caught the attention of lawmakers, with a Senate committee announcing an antitrust hearing in November 2022. Live Nation president Joe Berchtold told Congress the following January that ticket sales problems for Swift’s tour were caused by “industrial scalpers” and a “cyber attack,” but the company initially blamed it on “historically unprecedented” demand. Reports of ongoing legal proceedings were widely reported on Wednesday, but the Wall Street Journal reported on their potential in mid-April.

Big number

265. According to the Department of Justice, this is the number of facilities Live Nation controls or owns across North America. The department says that number includes more than half of the top 100 amphitheaters across the United States.

Tangent

The latest antitrust action by the Justice Department came in late March, when the department joined a dozen states and Washington, D.C., in filing a landmark lawsuit against Apple. The lawsuit accused the iPhone maker of illegally monopolizing the smartphone market, violating Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Further reading

Live Nation Could Face Antitrust Lawsuit, but Analysts Doubt Action will Bite (Forbes)

Live Nation Shares Fall as Feds Report Reports Plan Antitrust Lawsuit Against Ticketmaster Tomorrow (Forbes)

US sues Apple in landmark iPhone antitrust case (Forbes)

US Department of Justice Will Seek to Break Up Live Nation-Ticketmaster (Bloomberg)

Taylor Swift Ticketmaster hearing: CEO blames bot cyber attack for website crash in congressional testimony (Forbes)