The Ministry of Justice and many states join to sue Live Nation Entertainment compared with Ticketmaster, whose side accuses the company of having a monopoly on live entertainment. Justice Department officials accuse Ticketmaster of foreclosing potential opportunities for other companies by making exclusive ticket and venue deals that effectively gave them the lion's share of the market.
The New York Times References that based on the accounts of anonymous invidious close to the matter, the federal government, along with a group of states that were not announced in the agency's report. The position that will be taken when the matter goes to court is the allegation that Live Nation entered into exclusive ticketing agreements with certain concert venues and served as the main ticket hub for concert tours.
Further, the government will allege that other business factors, such as venue management, reportedly helped Live Nation become a monopoly by passing on high costs to consumers and harming competitors' efforts to enter the field. Further, the DOJ will state in the lawsuit that tours promoted by the entertainment company were more likely to play shows where Ticketmaster had exclusive rights to sell tickets.
Ticketmaster reportedly sells around 600 million tickets per year by global count. The company's ticketing business is estimated to be responsible for 70 to 80 percent of major concert venues domestically.
In 2023, a congressional hearing was held that was sparked by a wild Taylor Swift tour pre-sale event that millions of fans were unable to attend. Both Republicans and Democrats in the US Senate have called the company a monopoly
The lawsuit will be filed in the Southern District of New York.
—
Photo: Getty