DoJ ‘to file antitrust suit against Live Nation’

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is expected to file an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation in the coming weeks, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Citing anonymous sources, the WSJ reports that the suit – which could be filed as soon as next month – would claim the Ticketmaster parent has abused its market-leading position in the ticketing business to harm competition, although specific details of the lawsuit have not been confirmed.

In response to the report, a Ticketmaster spokesperson tells the publication: “Ticketmaster has more competition today than it has ever had, and the deal terms with venues show it has nothing close to monopoly power.”

Neither Live Nation or the DoJ have commented. However, LN president/CFO Joe Berchtold addressed the DoJ’s investigation in a recent interview at the Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco.

“We’re fully giving them everything they asked for and they’ll define the timetable,” he said. “Meanwhile, we’ll continue to run a great business. Again, I’ll say it over and over, our strategy, our culture, is to super-serve the artists. I don’t think we have anything to be ashamed of with having that as a strategy.

“I think that our structural behaviour is positive for the industry. Big is bad today, but I feel very good about how we are as a company trying to operate what we’re trying to do and what our opportunities are going forward.”

“The Ticketmaster of 2010 did not face the level of competition that we face today”

Speaking during the promoter’s earnings call in February, CEO Michael Rapino said Live Nation was “100% cooperative” with investigators following reports that the US Justice Department had sent out a new raft of information requests in connection with the probe.

Four years ago, a US district court issued a judgment extending the ‘consent decree’ governing the 2010 merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster to 2025. The DoJ alleged the firm had violated provisions of the decree on multiple occasions – claims that were strenuously denied by Live Nation.

Berchtold also defended Ticketmaster’s practices when appearing before a US Senate antitrust panel in early 2023, spurred by the fallout from the presale for Taylor Swift’s stadium tour.

“We hear people say that ticketing markets are less competitive today than they were at the time of the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger. That’s simply not true,” he argued. “The Ticketmaster of 2010 did not face the level of competition that we face today… Ticketmaster has lost, not gained, market share since the merger.”

While the company has come under increased scrutiny from lawmakers since the 2022 Eras Tour onsale, it is understood the DoJ inquiry predates the controversy.

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