"Today, the concert ticket industry is broken-in fact, the concert industry itself is broken, because it is controlled by a monopolist. This statement from DOJ attorney David Dahlquist during opening arguments established the government's position that Live Nation's monopolistic control necessitated breaking up the company to ensure fairness and value for American consumers."
"Live Nation would agree to change how it makes ticketing deals with venues, allowing those businesses to use multiple vendors to sell tickets to fans, rather than work with Ticketmaster exclusively. This settlement provision mirrors commitments Live Nation made in 2010 during its merger with Ticketmaster, suggesting minimal substantive change from existing arrangements."
"This settlement is the best possible outcome for Live Nation and its billionaire ownership-which is to say, the outcome that anyone should have expected from the Trump DOJ, which will always land on the side of the oligarchs wherever possible, even in cases where it's pretending to prosecute them."
The Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation in 2024, arguing the company controlled a monopoly in the concert ticket industry and needed to be broken up. However, less than a week after opening statements claiming the concert industry was broken due to monopolistic control, the DOJ reached a settlement that abandoned the breakup demand. The agreement requires Live Nation to allow venues to use multiple ticketing vendors instead of exclusively using Ticketmaster, a provision the company had already agreed to in 2010. Live Nation will pay $200 million in damages to participating states while avoiding meaningful regulation or divestiture. The settlement requires judicial approval and represents a significant retreat from the government's original prosecution objectives.
#antitrust-law #live-nation-ticketmaster #doj-settlement #concert-industry-monopoly #corporate-regulation
Read at Jezebel
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]