"When Abbamondi called to break the news to Michael Rapino, the Live Nation Entertainment CEO, the meeting became tense - and a recording of it came back to haunt Rapino in this month's Live Nation-Ticketmaster monopoly trial. Abbamondi was one of two witnesses who took the stand Wednesday, alongside Mitch Helgerson, the chief revenue officer for the Minnesota Wild hockey team. Both men said that when they considered switching their venues' ticketing platform from Ticketmaster, executives there threatened them with the loss of vital Live Nation-promoted concerts."
"BSE Global's existing Ticketmaster contract would expire at the end of September, and Abbamondi and his team had evaluated proposals from SeatGeek, AXS, and Ticketmaster. The economics of Ticketmaster offer, according to Abbamondi, 'was nowhere near as good as the other two.' SeatGeek's technology was 'superior' to Ticketmaster's on balance, on top of better financial terms including an equity stake in the company, the arena decided."
In a monopoly trial against Live Nation-Ticketmaster, testimony revealed that executives threatened venues considering alternative ticketing platforms. John Abbamondi, former CEO of BSE Global which operates Brooklyn's Barclays Center, testified that when he informed Live Nation Entertainment CEO Michael Rapino of plans to switch to SeatGeek due to superior technology and better financial terms, the meeting became tense. Mitch Helgerson, chief revenue officer for the Minnesota Wild, provided similar testimony about threats regarding loss of Live Nation-promoted concerts. The Justice Department and 40 state and district attorneys general argue this behavior demonstrates monopolistic practices, while Live Nation-Ticketmaster denies the charges.
#ticketmaster-monopoly-trial #concert-ticketing #antitrust-litigation #live-nation-entertainment #venue-contracts
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