Report: Live Nation Target Of Coming Antitrust Action By DOJ

The U.S. Department of Justice, according to a Wall Street Journal report, is preparing to file an antitrust lawsuit as soon as next month against Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, that would claim the company has “leveraged its dominance in a way that undermined competition for ticketing live events.”

Citing unnamed “people familiar with the matter,” the report said specific claims “couldn’t be learned.” Live Nation has faced down charges of anticompetitive actions before and DOJ intervention has been surmised for more than a year. A new DOJ action could affect the consent decree Live Nation operates under, which was extended through 2025.

Charges against Live Nation have bubbled up from consumers and legislators in the wake of flawed tour onsales such as those that most recently occurred with Taylor Swift and Phish, with some critics saying the company should divest itself of Ticketmaster.

While no specifics about a potential lawsuit were offered by the Wall Street Journal, LYV shares dropped from a high of $103.70 on the day’s trading to $90.61 by market close.  At press time, it had risen to $92.26.

The DOJ opened a new investigation in 2022 into Live Nation’s size and power in concert promotion, ticketing and venues, which gained steam after Ticketmaster crashed on a fan presale of Swift’s “Eras Tour” that November.

See: Swifties Drop Federal Class Action Against Live Nation

Consumer plaintiffs filed a federal class-action suit soon after the Taylor Swift presale fiasco. However, the lead plaintiff in that case dropped the suit. Representatives for plaintiff Michelle Sterloff filed for a voluntary dismissal of the suit Dec. 12, 2023, nearly a year after the claim was filed in the U.S. District Court for Central California.

Dan Wall, Live Nation’s executive vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs, addressed the recent complaints in a March post on the company’s website as a matter of escalating ticket prices, explaining the complex relationships between artists, promoters, venues, ticketers and other stakeholders in the ticketing process. 

Wall also submitted a guest post to Pollstar early in 2023 addressing the antitrust issues, how the Live Nation / Ticketmaster Consent Decree was “negotiated, executed, and approved by a federal court in 2010 resolved those issues, and how unprecedented it would be for antitrust enforcers to revisit those issues now.”

See: ‘Grossly Negligent:’ Setting The Record Straight On The 2010 Live Nation – Ticketmaster Merger

Wall answered allegations of high priced tickets by pointing out the company doesn’t set ticket price. “Statements to the effect that Live Nation and Ticketmaster ‘keep ticket prices high’ are just flat wrong.  Anyone with a basic understanding of the industry knows this.  Those who perpetuate this falsehood are cynical at best.  They do a disservice to consumers and to rational political discourse.”

A Live Nation spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.