Live Nation Faces Antitrust DOJ Lawsuit in Latest Move to Limit Concert Ticket Dominance

The Department of Justice is expected to file suit Thursday against Live Nation Entertainment — which includes concert giant Ticketmaster — for antitrust violations, Bloomberg and The Washington Post reported late Wednesday.

The lawsuit will be filed in the Southern District of New York, according to the former outlet.

Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that the suit was in the works over outrageously high fees, poor customer service and anticompetitive practices, such as retaliating against stadiums and arenas that opted to use other ticketing companies.

“Based on the issues we know about, we don’t believe a breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster would be a legally permissible remedy,” Live Nation CFO and president Joe Berchtold said earlier this month. He added that he believes the DOJ investigation is more focused on specific business practices, rather than the Live Nation merger with Ticketmaster.

The merger between the two companies took place in 2010 and was approved by the DOJ at the time. Neither party immediately responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.

The DOJ has reportedly been scrutinizing the Beverly Hills-based conglomerate, which bills itself as the “world’s leading live entertainment company,” for years.

In 2018, it was reportedly probing allegations that the merged company used its dominance in the concert tours business to pressure venues into selling their tickets on Ticketmaster or risk losing popular acts.

Politicians on both sides on the aisles, including Amy Klobuchar, have chastised the company for its mishandling of sales on Taylor Swift’s Eras tour.

In November 2022, Klobuchar called for a Senate investigation into Ticketmaster, telling CBS Minnesota affiliate WCCO, “I’ve called for years for a change, and maybe Taylor Swift fans … will finally put it over the edge.”

Live Nation’s shares fell 7% after the bell on Wednesday, per Reuters.

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