Dept. Of Justice Plans To Break Up Live Nation And Ticketmaster Ties With New Lawsuit
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The Department of Justice is seeking to break up the existing ties between Live Nation and Ticketmaster. On Thursday (May 23), The New York Times reported that the DOJ and a group of states plan to sue the entertainment giant, which owns the popular ticketing site, accusing it of “illegally maintaining a monopoly in the live entertainment industry.”
News of the regulators’ investigation first surfaced back in 2022, so the upcoming suit has been expected for a while. The case plans to argue that the company held up its power by taking advantage of “exclusive ticketing contracts with concert venues” and “dominance over concert tours and other businesses like venue management.” The practices have allegedly driven up ticket prices and fees and caused unfair competition.
The outlet also reported that the company’s Ticketmaster division alone sells 600 million tickets a year to events around the world. It is the most major player globally, handling ticketing for 70 percent to 80 percent of major concert venues in the United States, according to estimates.
BREAKING: The Department of Justice will call for the breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster in an antitrust lawsuit set to be filed on Thursday → https://t.co/XY58WaAqlp pic.twitter.com/Os5XCdHuTg
— CONSEQUENCE (@consequence) May 23, 2024
Additionally, lawmakers including Amy Klobuchar, John Cornyn, Richard Blumenthal, and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez have been calling for heightened regulation towards Live Nation over the years.
“That makes them a vertically integrated giant,” Klobuchar previously said to Rolling Stone. “They book the concert, sell the tickets, and own the venue [and] that makes for little competition. And despite the consent decree which they agreed to extend, we don’t see the competition that we should.”
“If the reports are correct, the Justice Department is doing the right thing by bringing this suit against Live Nation,” Klobuchar also said in a statement Wednesday regarding news of the upcoming suit. “This is about ensuring fair treatment for fans everywhere and reinvigorating competition in ticketing markets.”
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