Department of Justice files lawsuit over Live Nation-Ticketmaster breakup on Thursday

According to Bloomberg News, the US Department of Justice and a group of states will file a lawsuit in New York on Thursday against Live Nation Entertainment over antitrust violations. The long-awaited action is reportedly linked to Ticketmaster’s control over concert ticket sales and will reportedly seek a structural solution that includes a possible breakup of the entertainment giant.

Requests for comment sent to the Department of Justice, Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster had not received a response as of Thursday evening.

Doggedly accused of anticompetitive conduct in the entertainment and ticketing industries, Live Nation and Ticketmaster have operated under a consent decree as part of their merger for more than a decade. In 2019, they settled with the Department of Justice after an investigation found multiple violations of that consent decree, which was modified and expanded.

Shares of Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) fell 7% after the close of trading on Wednesday on the report.

Pressure for antitrust action has increased again in the wake of the disastrously botched fall 2022 sale of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. This failure led to multiple lawsuits filed by angry fans, as well as public condemnation from lawmakers at both the federal and local levels. Within months, the company became the subject of a contentious Senate subcommittee hearing, during which Chief Financial Officer Joe Berchtold tried to blame failed sales and ever-rising ticket prices on ticket resale companies rather than the failure of Ticketmaster or Live Nation to innovate with due to its huge market share.

Shortly thereafter, it was reported that the Justice Department was already investigating the company, examining whether a lawsuit would make sense if it ruled in its allegedly anticompetitive manner.

Berchtold and other Live Nation officials recently tried to assess the potential for a lawsuit as unlikely or frivolous. “I think it’s safe to say that I still believe that we fundamentally have business practices that are completely defensible,” Berchtold told attendees at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications conference earlier this week. He previously indicated that the company did not believe the Justice Department had any right to divest Ticketmaster’s property.

FURTHER READING | Live Nation is seeking to avoid a Justice Department antitrust lawsuit

Stick with TicketNews for more coverage of this lawsuit, which will almost certainly have a huge impact on the entire entertainment industry, regardless of its outcome.