Live Nation Loses Bid to Narrow DOJ Ticketmaster Case
A federal judge in New York said he denied Live Nation Entertainment Inc.’s attempt to narrow the Justice Department’s antitrust case seeking to break off Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. after the companies merged more than 15 years ago.
US District Judge Arun Subramanian told lawyers for the government and company in a hearing Thursday that he is denying a motion to dismiss some of the claims in the case. Subramanian didn’t disclose the reasoning behind his decision, but said his order will be made public later Thursday or Friday. Live Nation’s motion would not have thrown out the case entirely.
A spokesperson for DOJ declined to comment. Live Nation didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The hearing was called to discuss the DOJ’s issues with the company not turning over documents according to schedule.
The Justice Department and some 30 states sued Live Nation last year, alleging it has illegally monopolized the live events industry. Live Nation controls more than 265 concert venues in North America and manages more than 400 musical artists, according to last year’s lawsuit, which said that overall the company controls at least 80% of major venues’ ticketing for concerts.
The company has denied wrongdoing and asked the judge to throw out a pair of claims, including one on the grounds that it has no legal obligation to allow other companies to use concert venues it owns. Motions to dismiss like the one by Live Nation are common in antitrust cases, though they rarely succeed in suits brought by the government.
The suit is among five major monopolization cases being pursued by the Justice Department’s antitrust unit, including twin cases against Alphabet Inc.’s Google, a lawsuit filed last year against Apple Inc. and another against Visa Inc.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster have been in the crosshairs of concert goers and the government for years. Antitrust enforcers allowed Live Nation and Ticketmaster to merge in 2010 subject to conditions imposed under a settlement agreement. But that accord, “which addressed a claim different from those at issue here,” has “failed to restrain Live Nation and Ticketmaster from violating other antitrust laws in increasingly serious ways,” the Justice Department wrote in its complaint.
A trial is scheduled for March 2026. A DOJ lawyer said during the hearing the government wants to first hold a trial on whether the company violated the law, followed by a separate proceeding, if necessary, on a remedy.
The case is US v. Live Nation Entertainment Inc., 24-cv-03973, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
Top photo: The Live Nation website arranged on a laptop in New York, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. The Justice Department may file an antitrust complaint as soon as next month aimed at forcing Live Nation Entertainment Inc. to spin off its Ticketmaster ticketing business, according to three people familiar with the matter. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg.