Concluding a closely watched trial with potentially far-reaching implications for concert-goers, a federal jury in New York found Wednesday that Beverly Hills-based Live Nation Entertainment and subsidiary Ticketmaster orchestrated an illegal monopoly of the concert-ticketing industry.
Live Nation has repeatedly and vehemently denied it was maintaining an unlawful dominance of the ticketing industry.
The verdict came in a lawsuit originally filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and dozens of attorneys general from multiple states, including California. The DOJ settled its portion of the antitrust lawsuit in March, but the states declined to join the settlement and took the allegations to trial.
“A jury today found Live Nation/Ticketmaster liable for anticompetitive conduct that harmed the music industry and included overcharging consumers,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “This is a historic and resounding victory for artists, fans, and the venues that support them.
“In the face of dwindling antitrust enforcement by the Trump administration, this verdict shows just how far states can go to protect our residents from big corporations that are using their power to illegally raise prices and rip-off Americans. We are incredibly proud of today’s outcome — and especially proud of our coalition made up of red and blue states alike who understood we needed to come together to protect our consumers, businesses, and state economies from Live Nation’s illegal conduct.”
Live Nation issued a statement Wednesday insisting the case is not over, noting that it has a series of motions pending regarding liability issues that the judge “deferred until after the jury returned its verdict.” There is also a motion pending to strike “damages testimony on which the jury’s award was based.”
“Of course, Live Nation can and will appeal any unfavorable rulings on these motions,” according to the company. “The jury’s award of $1.72 per ticket applies to a limited number of tickets — those sold at 257 venues, which represent about 20% of total tickets — and only to purchases by fans (excluding brokers) in certain states over the past five years. Based on that scope, we believe the aggregate single damages figure would be below $150 million, which would be trebled. In connection with the DOJ settlement, Live Nation has already accrued $280 million toward state damages and civil penalty claims.
“Injunctive relief will be determined by the Court after the states make a remedy proposal, which we expect in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the Tunney Act proceedings regarding the DOJ settlement will continue. We remain confident that the ultimate outcome of the states’ case will not be materially different than what is envisioned by the DOJ settlement.”
The allegations in the case originally stemmed from a probe into the November 2022 ticket presale debacle for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Ticketmaster, which controls more than 70% of the market for ticketing and live events, crashed during the first day of sales for the Swift tour, leaving millions of fans ticketless or left to seek higher-priced tickets on the secondary market.
The lawsuit, filed two years ago in federal court in the Southern District of New York, accused the company of creating a monopoly over the live entertainment market that has harmed music fans, artists and promoters around the United States through higher prices and frustrating consumer experiences.
Plaintiffs contended that Live Nation sought to lock out competitors by using restrictive contracts and exclusive agreements with venues, allegedly preventing concert halls from switching to rival ticketing systems.
When the lawsuit was filed, Live Nation denied the company controls the market. The company said the lawsuit “ignores everything that is actually responsible for higher ticket prices, from increasing production costs to artist popularity, to 24/7 online ticket scalping that reveals the public’s willingness to pay far more than primary tickets cost.”
The suit “blames Live Nation and Ticketmaster for high service charges, but ignores that Ticketmaster retains only a modest portion of those fees. In fact, primary ticketing is one of the least expensive digital distributions in the economy,” the company contended at the time.
In March, the DOJ settled its portion of the case with Live Nation and Ticketmaster. As part of that settlement, the company agreed to divest its 13 exclusive booking agreements with amphitheaters nationwide. All owned and operated amphitheaters will continue to be operated by Live Nation as open venues, promoting competition and maximizing show volume, according to a statement issued by the company at the time.
“Today marks a major step in improving the concert experience for artists and fans throughout the United States,” Michael Rapino, Live Nation’s president and chief executive, said in a statement in March. “Live Nation is proud to lead the way enhancing this experience with our amphitheaters, which will be open to all promoters, allowing these promoters to decide how best to distribute up to 50% of the tickets, and capping ticketing service fees at 15%.
“By giving artists greater flexibility in choosing their promotional partners and ticketing strategy while also keeping the cost of a concert more affordable for fans, we are putting more power where it should be — with artists and fans.”
Following the jury’s verdict Wednesday, the case will go back before the judge in New York to determine damages, penalties and restitution, and other possible “injunctive relief,” according to Bonta’s office.