Overview
- Live Nation and Ticketmaster were found to have run an unlawful monopoly in a Manhattan federal trial Wednesday, with jurors concluding the companies overcharged buyers by an average of $1.72 per ticket.
- Judge Arun Subramanian will hold a remedies phase to decide damages and whether to impose structural changes, which could include forcing Ticketmaster to separate from Live Nation.
- The U.S. Justice Department reached a mid-trial agreement that would cap some service fees at 15 percent, open access to rival sellers like SeatGeek and AXS, and create a $280 million fund, and that deal still requires court approval.
- States argued Live Nation’s tight grip on concert promotion, venue control, and ticketing blocked competition, pointing to Ticketmaster’s roughly 86 percent share of concert ticketing and trial evidence that included executives mocking customers in internal messages.
- Live Nation denies monopolization and plans to appeal, and any drop in fees or prices will depend on the judge’s orders and could take time to reach fans.