Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster expected

WASHINGTON, DC (CelebrityAccess) – Multiple media sources close to the case, including leaks to ABC news AND CNN, say the Department of Justice (DOJ) and several state attorneys general will announce an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation (LN) and Ticketmaster (TM) today (May 23). Details of the lawsuit remain unclear, but the Justice Department’s investigation has been ongoing for two years.

The investigation focused on whether LN monopolized the live event ticketing market through its exclusive contracts with venues through its subsidiary TM. Some properties accuse the music industry giant of using coercive tactics or neglecting to book artists at venues that have not agreed to use TM technology. A successful antitrust case against LN and TM could force the companies to split. This could lead to significant changes in the live ticket market, which has been under increased scrutiny in recent years.

In 2019, both companies paid fines for violating the terms of the Department of Justice decision issued when their merger was first approved. Since their merger in 2010, LN and TM have faced criticism for speculative ticket sales, fraudulent websites and hidden fees. Beginning in 2022, the Department of Justice intensified scrutiny over pre-sale misconduct Taylor Swift Era’s trip.

With over 70% of the ticket and live event market share, the TM system crashed during the first day of pre-sales for Swift’s Eras tour, leaving millions of fans unable to purchase tickets or forced to purchase more expensive tickets on the secondary market. The incident raised sharp questions from lawmakers LN President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Joe Berchtold last January about the company’s industry dominance and its impact on rivals, artists and fans.

“There are problems in the ticketing industry – problems that we believe can and should be solved through legislation,” Berchtold said at the time, attributing the problems to ticket scalping as the main cause. Last June, LN representatives met with President Biden, which led to the announcement of changes, including an “all-in upfront” pricing model that discloses all fees charged to users when purchasing tickets.

In a speech at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications conference in Boston on Tuesday (May 21), Berchtold expressed optimism that the case could be successfully mediated, avoiding a clash with the Justice Department’s top antitrust lawyer, Jon Kanter.

“We wouldn’t have gotten to this point if they hadn’t had concerns, but the good news is we’re still talking and they’ve said they have an open mind. So without going into the real details of the conversation, I think it’s safe to say that I still believe that we fundamentally have business practices that are completely defensible. However, we are also open to finding common ground to resolve this issue and continue work. But at this point we don’t know exactly what they want. “