A federal jury on Wednesday decided that Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company of the derided events giant Ticketmaster, is guilty of operating with monopolistic power over the ticketing market. The ruling could potentially lead to the breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, according to the New York Times.
The remedies for Live Nation’s monopoly will be determined at a later date, and will include a ruling on damages that the company will be required to pay after the jury determined that Ticketmaster had overcharged consumers by $1.72 for each ticket. Given the scale of the company’s operation, that’s a lot of dough. Per the Times, the company held 55,000 events and sold 646 million tickets last year alone.
The case against Live Nation was first brought in 2024 by 34 states and the Department of Justice, though the latter ultimately agreed to a settlement with the company before going to trial. That settlement was reportedly pushed by Donald Trump, who has ties with several Live Nation board members. While it did net a $280 million fine against Live Nation, it’s a drop in the bucket for a company that reported $25.2 billion in earnings last year.
The settlement was reached just before the trial was set to begin, and came despite the fact that the DOJ was sitting on some incredibly damning material, including messages from Live Nation employees calling customers “stupid” and reveling in “robbing them blind.” The government’s initial case also found that Live Nation controls ticketing for 80% of major concert venues in the country. Ticketmaster’s violations were so blatant that even Republican Senators were advocating for the company to be punished and potentially broken up. Despite that, Trump’s prosecutors decided to get out of the enforcing antitrust business, abandoning what turns out to have been a real layup of a case.
Luckily, the states decided to press on, which allowed the California Attorney General to take a victory lap following today’s verdict. “This is a historic and resounding victory for artists, fans, and the venues that support them,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “In the face of dwindling antitrust enforcement by the Trump Administration, this verdict shows just how far states can go to protect our residents from big corporations that are using their power to illegally raise prices and rip off Americans.”
The judge assigned to the case, Arun Subramanian, will set a date for a future hearing on potential remedies for Live Nation’s crimes, though the expectation is that the company will appeal the ruling.
