"The team feared that if it dropped SeatGeek's rival Ticketmaster, Ticketmaster's parent company Live Nation could pull concerts from the team's stadium, damaging an important revenue stream. That's how SeatGeek CEO Jack Groetzinger remembers things. The deal was ultimately successful, resulting in a primary ticketing partnership that was announced in 2018. But for a while, Groetzinger recalled on the stand in front of a Manhattan jury Friday, 'the concert issue was the one thing we just couldn't get over, and seemed like it might tank the whole process.'"
"Many in the industry believed Live Nation's promoters would withhold concerts from venues that didn't use Ticketmaster, several witnesses testified. The real or perceived threat created such fear, witnesses alleged, that some major venues would decline to switch to what they viewed as a better ticketing product, so as not to earn Live Nation's wrath."
SeatGeek negotiated a ticketing partnership with the Dallas Cowboys but faced a significant obstacle: concern that Live Nation, Ticketmaster's parent company, would retaliate by withholding concerts from the stadium if the team dropped Ticketmaster. SeatGeek CEO Jack Groetzinger testified about this "concert issue" during an antitrust trial against Live Nation-Ticketmaster in Manhattan. Despite ultimately reaching the partnership agreement in 2018, the retaliation threat nearly derailed negotiations. Multiple industry witnesses testified that Live Nation's promoters were believed capable of withholding concerts from venues switching ticketing providers, creating widespread fear that prevented venues from adopting alternative ticketing platforms they considered superior. This alleged practice forms a central theme in the government's six-week antitrust case against the company.
Read at The Verge
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