Lawsuit filed against Live Nation by the Department of Justice involving 10 additional US states

The U.S. Department of Justice has re-filed a historic antitrust lawsuit against concert promoter Live Nation, with 10 more states joining efforts to split up the company more than a decade after its 2010 merger with Ticketmaster.

The attorneys general of Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah and Vermont were added to the amended complaint filed in the Southern District of New York on Monday (August 19), bringing the total number of states participating in the lawsuit to 40, along with the District of Columbia.

“There is nothing new in the amended complaint,” Live Nation said in a statement. “The lawsuit still does not resolve the issues fans are concerned about regarding ticket prices, service fees and access to popular shows. We look forward to sharing more facts as the case progresses.”

The amended complaint again alleges that Live Nation and Ticketmaster operated as a monopoly and violated Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act by using illegal tactics to expand its concert promotion business and amphitheater management business. The new complaint also provides new details about how Live Nation allegedly expanded its ticketing business after its 2009 merger with Ticketmaster, including the company’s controversial relationship with arena developer and operator Oak View Group (OVG). Founded in 2015 by Tim Leiweke and music director Irving AzoffOak View Group operates nearly 200 venues and relies on Live Nation to host major concert tours at its properties, including such top U.S. venues as Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Moody Center in Austin and UBS Arena in Belmont, New York.

As the building manager’s primary agent, OVG is tasked with managing the competitive process to select a venue’s ticketing agreement, but the complaint alleges that OVG is required to “advocate for exclusivity agreements with Ticketmaster for over 100 venues managed by Oak View Group” — which, the lawsuit claims, essentially “locks those venues into long-term exclusivity agreements with Ticketmaster.” The agreement, the government argues, unfairly prevents outside competitors from entering the ticketing market while compensating OVG with a significant “incentive payment” from Live Nation, plus significant annual payments.

To be fair, OVG competitor AEG, which also competes with Live Nation in concert promotion and ticketing, also accepted payments for the properties it managed through ASM Global, the property management company it owned with Canadian private equity firm Onex and recently sold to Legends Hospitality.

The amended complaint does not contain additional harmful exchanges between Live Nation CEO Michal Rapino and potential competitors or new damaging information that shows the company is using heavy-handed tactics. Instead, it provides more analysis of the concert market after the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger. On that front, according to the complaint, “Live Nation’s conduct harmed fans by leaving them with fewer concerts, having more limited choices among touring artists, paying higher ticket prices, and experiencing a lower quality ticketing experience than they would have had but for Live Nation’s anticompetitive conduct.”