The
“The concert ticket industry is broken,” Justice Department lawyer David Dahlquist told jurors in his opening statement. Live Nation “illegally used their monopoly power to help themselves at the expense” of artists, venues and fans, he said.
A Live Nation lawyer argued that the company and its Ticketmaster unit have acted legally, albeit fiercely, to win business. “Every customer we get is a hard-fought battle in a competitive marketplace,” attorney David Marriott said in his opening statement. Live Nation and Ticketmaster are “not monopolists,” he said.
On Monday, the two sides picked a jury of 12 New Yorkers who will hear evidence about whether Live Nation violated federal and state antitrust laws. If the government prevails, US District Judge
More than three dozen state attorneys general have also joined the DOJ’s case, and 24 states and Washington DC are seeking damages on behalf of concert goers who they say overpaid for tickets between 2020 and 2024 because of Live Nation’s alleged monopoly. The jury will determine whether and how much consumers were overcharged per ticket, while the judge will determine the final amount Live Nation must pay, along with other remedies, if it loses the case.
Jonathan Hatch, an attorney for the
Live Nation and Ticketmaster are the largest US venue owner, concert promoter and ticketing company.
Ticketing Market
Dahlquist said the company controls 86% of the market for ticketing services to what he calls “major concert venues,” which he defined as a capacity of at least 8,500 people and 10 concerts in a year. The company also controls about 78% of the market for large amphitheaters used by artists, he said.
Live Nation’s next closest competitor in the ticketing market is
The two sides disagreed about how the market should be defined. Marriott, on behalf of Live Nation, argued that there are more than 20,000 venues in the US and that the promoter has invested in amphitheaters because it is difficult to break into stadiums or arenas, which are often owned by sports teams. He said Live Nation maintains less than a 20% market share of venues. The DOJ includes just 257 buildings in its major concert venue market, a tally Marriott said is “gerrymandered” for the lawsuit.
The company lawyer also said Ticketmaster’s market share was closer to 40%, disputing the government’s claim that it has 86%. He said the government only focused on 87 amphitheaters and excluded stadiums and arenas that host thousands of concerts.
Meanwhile, Dahlquist told the jury that Live Nation has the highest concert ticket fees in the world. He said that when venues switch their ticketing provider away from Ticketmaster fees drop by an average of $3.82. When venues switch to Ticketmaster, fees rise by an average of $4.33.
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The trial is expected to last up to six weeks and promises to offer a snapshot of some of the biggest power players in the concert business. Witness testimony is scheduled to begin Wednesday. Live Nation boss
Artists including
Live Nation has denied it operates an illegal monopoly even as it has endured nearly two decades of antitrust scrutiny. The company merged with Ticketmaster in 2010 following a lengthy antitrust investigation. At the time, the Justice Department required the combined company to pledge that it wouldn’t tie its services together or retaliate against venues that switched promoters or ticketing operations.
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In 2019, the Justice Department alleged that Live Nation had violated that promise and entered into a new settlement imposing an external monitor to ensure compliance and investigate any further disputes. The Biden administration then filed a lawsuit in 2024 seeking to break up the company.
Since the acquisition, “over the past 16 years Live Nation has continued to grow their market power and misuse their market power,” Dahlquist said.
The company also contends that a ruling by Subramanian last month significantly narrowed the case and eliminated the basis for the government to seek a breakup. However, the DOJ and states maintain that is still on the table if they prevail in the current trial.
Barclays Center Fight
After opening statements, the initial testimony is expected to focus on a fight between Ticketmaster and
The DOJ and states also say that venues in Minnesota and Texas ultimately chose not to sign with SeatGeek because of Live Nation’s threats. Venues even required rival ticketers to provide “retaliation insurance” to be compensated in the event Live Nation pulled shows, the government alleges.
Marriott suggested Live Nation does not threaten venues, showing jurors a slide during his opening statement that read: “Saying you’re better is not a threat.”
On the Barclays relationship, Marriott said Barclays’ former chief executive officer John Abbamondi had an existing relationship with SeatGeek and that the parent company for the arena took an ownership stake in the company as a result of the ticketing provider switch. The attorney also said SeatGeek lost the business not because of artists re-routing their tours, but because SeatGeek couldn’t handle the job.
Testimony on Wednesday is expected to start with Abbamondi, followed by Mitch Helgerson, the chief revenue officer for the Minnesota Wild, a professional hockey team that plays home games in the Minnesota venue in question.
SeatGeek CEO
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Steve Stroth, Peter Blumberg
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