Yahoo Movies Liberty Media CEO Downplays Live Nation, Ticketmaster Monopoly Concerns
Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei has echoed Live Nation CFO and president Joe Berchtold in arguing against the potential breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster as part of a potential lawsuit from the Department of Justice.
“The DOJ investigation appears focused on specific business practices within divisions of the company, not the merger or the business structure. Live doesn’t believe the breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster would be a legally defensible remedy,” Maffei told analysts during a morning call on Wednesday. The CEO’s remarks amplified comments by Berchtold during a Live Nation conference call on May 2.
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Live Nation is set to hold talks with senior DOJ officials to avoid a potential separation of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The original Live Nation merger with Ticketmaster that took place in 2010 was approved by the Department of Justice.
Liberty Media, the firm controlled by John Malone that owns such assets as SiriusXM and the Formula 1 racing circuit, reported first-quarter financials on Wednesday. Quarterly revenue at the Formula 1 Group jumped 45 percent to $553 million to $1.23 billion.
First quarter 2024 revenue for the Liberty SiriusXM Group, the satellite radio platform and home of Howard Stern, came to $2.16 billion, up 1 percent from a year-earlier $2.14 billion. Liberty Media’s net income at $265 million was up from a year-earlier $233 million.
Liberty Media held an 83.3 percent stake in SiriusXM on April 26. Maffei, on the analyst call, said his company was on schedule to complete a planned combination of Liberty SiriusXM Group and SiriusXM in the third quarter of 2024, and that the transaction was “progressing well,” including in securing regulatory approvals.
Maffei also during prepared remarks to analyst touted Live Nation as continuing a post-pandemic rebound in 2024. “Indicators point to another record year, with over 85 percent of the large shows booked, versus 75 percent at this time in the prior year,” he said.
Maffei also addressed the impact of the TV rights for the Atlanta Braves pro baseball team should regional sports network owner Diamond Sports Group, the Sinclair-affiliated parent company behind Bally Sports, not emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
“We have the benefit, as we’ve mentioned before, of an enormously attractive territory and think we have options in the event that they are unable to complete their successful emergence from Chapter 11,” he told analysts. Atlanta Braves CEO Derek Schiller on the call also talked about the carriage dispute between Bally Sports and Comcast that has led to a sudden blackout.
“Obviously, tariff disputes are sort of commonplace, unfortunately, and we don’t like the fact that this carriage dispute is going on. We’re not a party to it and we’re hoping that Comcast and Bally get together,” Schiller argued.
He added Diamond Bally continued to make payments to the Braves as it moves through the Chapter 11 proceedings.
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