The US Department of Justice intends to file an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation as soon as next month, according to The Wall Street Journal and Axios.
The lawsuit would claim that Live Nation has taken abusive steps to squash competition in the live event ticketing space, the WSJ reports.
The DOJ first launched its antitrust investigation into Live Nation in early 2022, reportedly focusing on whether the company has honored a consent decree it made with the Justice Department upon its merger with Ticketmaster in 2010, in which Live Nation promised not to punish concert venues who used competing ticket platforms by withholding access to Live Nation-promoted tours. The Justice Department previously found evidence of Live Nation engaging in such behavior after launching an investigation in 2018. Under terms of a subsequent settlement in 2019, Live Nation agreed to extend the consent decree to 2025 and reimbursed the Justice Department for the costs of its investigation.
As part of its latest investigation, the DOJ has reportedly looked into Live Nation’s dynamic pricing and resale policies, its deals with venues to only use Ticketmaster, and its exclusive contracts with touring artists, among other topics. Per WSJ, Ticketmaster currently holds more than 80% of the market for primary ticket sales in the US.
In a statement, a Live Nation/Ticketmaster representative told WSJ, “Ticketmaster has more competition today than it has ever had, and the deal terms with venues show it has nothing close to monopoly power.”
Full disclosure: Consequence has ticketing partnerships with both Live Nation and StubHub
