The Justice Department will seek the dissolution of Live Nation and Ticketmaster in an antitrust lawsuit to be filed Thursday, according to Bloomberg News.
The lawsuit is expected to claim that Live Nation has taken abusive steps to crush competition in the live event ticketing space.
The Justice Department first launched its antitrust investigation into Live Nation in early 2022, reportedly focusing on whether the company has complied with a consent decree it entered into with the Justice Department following its merger with Ticketmaster in 2010, in which Live Nation promised not to punish concert venues that used competing ticketing platforms by withholding access to tours promoted by Live Nation. The Justice Department previously found evidence that Live Nation engaged in such behavior after launching an investigation in 2018. Under the terms of a subsequent investigation settlement In 2019, Live Nation agreed to extend the consent decree through 2025 and reimbursed the Justice Department for the costs of its investigation.
As part of its latest investigation, the Justice Department reportedly looked into Live Nation's dynamic pricing and resale policies, its agreements with venues to use Ticketmaster only, and its exclusive contracts with touring artists, among other issues. Ticketmaster currently owns more than 80% of the primary ticketing market in the United States.
In a previous statement responding to reports of a possible lawsuit, a representative for Live Nation/Ticketmaster said: “Ticketmaster has more competition today than ever, and the terms of the agreement with venues show that it does not have anything close to the power of a monopoly. ”.
This is a developing story…
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