‘The concert ticket industry is broken,’ justice department says as Ticketmaster trial begins | Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster keeps the average price of each ticket for events at major concert venues by $7.58, a New York state attorney told jurors Tuesday at a hearing in which dozens of states are seeking to compensate fans for damages.
Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation have been accused of abusing their market power to support illegal monopolies in the concert industry. The hearing in Manhattan could result in the U.S. Justice Department arguing for the breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster or for the companies that compensate ticket buyers to separate.
The Justice Department and attorneys general for New York and Washington, D.C., as well as 38 other states, allege that the entertainment conglomerate dominated live event markets to the detriment of artists, venues and fans.
“The concert ticket industry today is broken, in fact the concert industry itself is broken,” Justice Department attorney David Dahlquist told jurors in his opening statement. “It’s controlled by a monopolist. It’s controlled by Live Nation.”
Ticketmaster keeps more fees than rivals like AXS, an expert estimated, citing New York state attorney Jonathan Hatch. Hatch said it’s estimated that fans in the states who filed claims overpaid for tickets by $1.56 to $1.72.
“We’re talking about real money coming out of people’s wallets,” he said.
Live Nation attorney David Marriott told jurors that Ticketmaster received about 5% of what fans paid for tickets. He said the company is not a monopoly and faces fierce competition in the industry.
“Every client we take on is a challenge in a competitive market,” he said.
Singer Kid Rock and Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons are expected to testify at the hearing, as are managers of rival ticket companies and venues, including Madison Square Garden. The Justice Department alleges in the lawsuit, filed in 2024, that Live Nation has illegal monopolies in certain venue and ticket markets. Live Nation is accused of soliciting concert promotion services from artists who perform at outdoor amphitheatres it owns.
The Justice Department also alleges that ticketing services, dominated by the company’s Ticketmaster arm, were operated through threats and exclusive multi-year contracts with major concert venues. U.S. district judge Arun Subramanian recently threw out many allegations in the case but denied Live Nation’s request to pause the hearing to allow for an appeal. The US Federal Trade Commission has filed a separate lawsuit against Ticketmaster, accusing Ticketmaster of allowing exploitative ticket sellers to violate its rules and woo fans.
