The US Justice Division informed a federal decide that Reside Nation Leisure Inc. ought to be damaged up as a result of the corporate maintains a stranglehold over the dwell occasions trade, partly by freezing out venues that don’t use its Ticketmaster unit.
Venues that dumped Ticketmaster in favor of one other ticket vendor ended up dropping about 5 concert events a yr promoted by Reside Nation, which meant forfeiting a mixed whole of about $1.5 million in income, or greater than $300,000 per occasion, based on the federal government, which sued the corporate in 2024.
New York’s Barclays Middle was among the many venues that “misplaced concert events because of switching from Ticketmaster to a rival ticketer,” Bonny Sweeney, a Justice Division lawyer, mentioned Friday at a courtroom listening to in Manhattan. She added that many venues declare Ticketmaster’s providers are inferior to these provided by rivals.
Reside Nation, which merged with Ticketmaster in 2010, has denied claims that it operates an unlawful monopoly. It has requested US District Decide Arun Subramanian to toss the federal government’s lawsuit or determine the case with out the necessity for a trial, which has been scheduled for March 2.
After listening to arguments from each side Friday, the decide didn’t say when he’d rule on the corporate’s request.
Reside Nation controls greater than 265 live performance venues in North America and manages greater than 400 musical artists, based on the antitrust lawsuit filed by the Justice Division and a few 30 states. Reside Nation additionally controls about 87% of the live performance ticketing market by its Ticketmaster subsidiary and greater than 65% of the live performance promotion market, Sweeney informed the decide on Friday.
Andrew Gass, a lawyer for Reside Nation, mentioned the federal government investigated the corporate for years however solely discovered eight alleged situations over 15 years the place Reside Nation threatened it could withhold concert events if a venue switched ticketing providers. The federal government additionally failed to point out proof of hurt created by the corporate’s coverage requiring artists to make use of Reside Nation’s promotion providers at venues it owns, he mentioned.
The federal government “wants some precise proof these clients have been made worse off,” Gass mentioned.
The Justice Division argued that artists earned much less from exhibits at Reside Nation-owned amphitheaters.
The corporate instructed its workers to not improve artist ensures — the amount of cash it agrees to pay even when a live performance is canceled — since they’ve to make use of Reside Nation’s venues, authorities lawyer Lorraine Van Kirk mentioned. Reside Nation amphitheaters even have greater venue and repair charges than equally sized venues, typically forcing artists to scale back their ticket costs to keep away from having to cost followers extra, she mentioned.
The case is US v. Reside Nation, 24-cv-3973, US District Courtroom, Southern District of New York .
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