{"id":586887,"date":"2026-04-16T02:15:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T02:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/586887\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T02:15:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T02:15:08","slug":"live-nation-loses-jury-trial-to-states-in-monopoly-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/586887\/","title":{"rendered":"Live Nation Loses Jury Trial to States In Monopoly Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLive Nation<\/a> Entertainment has been found liable in its bombshell monopoly lawsuit a major move that could drastically shake up the live music landscape as a judge now decides the penalty Live Nation and Ticketmaster<\/a> should face.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter a weeks-long trial that featured testimony from the likes of Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino as well as other major industry stakeholders like AEG Presents CEO Jay Marciano and Drake\u2019s manager Adel Nur, jurors ruled on Wednesday that Live Nation functions as a monopoly that has squashed competitors and driven up ticket costs for fans. The bulk of the claims jurors focused on were related to requirements for artists at Live Nation\u2019s amphitheaters, as well as claims that Live Nation strong-armed concert venues to use Ticketmaster if they wanted access to Live Nation\u2019s concerts. \u00a0 <\/p>\n

\n\tThe verdict comes two years after the DOJ and nearly 40 plaintiff states had first announced a lawsuit against the live music giant in May of 2024, with the department taking an aggressive and rare call to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster over a decade after the DOJ had originally allowed the merger over a decade prior. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe DOJ, however, surprised the court after confirming it had reached a settlement with Live Nation<\/a> just days after the trial started. A few of the plaintiff states joined in settling alongside the federal government, but over 30 states \u2014 including market leaders California, New York and Texas \u2014 decided to keep litigating on their own, enlisting prominent antitrust lawyer Jeffrey Kessler as their counsel.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs part of the DOJ settlement, Live Nation had already agreed to some concessions far less severe than a breakup, which included ending booking agreements with 13 amphitheaters across the country and opening its remaining amphitheaters for all other concert promoters. Live Nation also agreed to another extension to the consent decree it had originally entered when Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged, which stipulated that Live Nation couldn\u2019t withhold concerts from venues that used other ticketing providers than Ticketmaster. (The DOJ had previously sued Live Nation in 2018 on claims of violating the decree, with Live Nation denying the violation and settling out of court and extending the decree back then as well.)<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to the verdict filed Wednesday, in regard to damages, the jury had determined Live Nation\/Ticketmaster had overcharged fans by $1.72 per ticket.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a statement, Live Nation said that \u201cthe jury\u2019s verdict is not the last word on this matter,\u201d further stating that \u201cpending motions will determine whether the liability and damages rulings stand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLive Nation said it would renew its motion for judgement that the court had previously deferred until after the jury reached a verdict. The company also has a pending motion in regard to a damages testimony related to the jury\u2019s damages award. <\/p>\n

\n\tRegarding the damages themselves, Live Nation said the $1.72 a ticket \u201capplies to a limited number of tickets\u2014 those sold at 257 venues, which represent about 20% of total tickets \u2014 and only to purchases by fans (excluding brokers) in certain states over the past five years. Based on that scope, we believe the aggregate single damages figure would be below $150 million.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOf course, Live Nation can and will appeal any unfavorable rulings on these motions,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n

\n\tBeyond the claims itself, evidence released in the trial had revealed some unflattering conversations between Live Nation representatives, perhaps most notably a set of exchanges between two regional employees bragging to each other <\/a>about gouging concertgoers on ancillary fees and parking spaces. \u00a0\u201cRobbing them, blind, baby, that\u2019s how we do,\u201d one of the employees wrote.<\/p>\n

\n\tRapino had disavowed the exchange<\/a> during his testimony, saying \u201cIt\u2019s disgusting, it\u2019s not the way we operate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWith the verdict decided, the next question remains what remedies Judge Arun Subramanian will deem necessary, and if that would include a breakup. While a divestment of Ticketmaster and Live Nation was the solution the DOJ had originally sought, without the DOJ\u2019s involvement, it\u2019s unclear how realistic that remedy would be. States have the same authority to pursue certain remedies, including a breakup, under the Clayton Act. <\/p>\n

\n\tGail Slater, the former assistant attorney general for anitrust who had stepped down before the Live Nation trial began, tweeted out praise to the plaintiff states on Wednesday, writing that they had You \u201cmade antitrust history today.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tCalifornia attorney general Rob Bonta called the decision \u201ca historic and\u00a0resounding victory for artists, fans, and the venues that support them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn the face of dwindling antitrust enforcement by the Trump Administration, this verdict shows just how far states can go to protect our residents\u00a0from big corporations that are using their power to illegally raise prices and rip-off Americans,\u201d Bonta said. \u201cWe are incredibly proud of today\u2019s outcome \u2014 and especially proud of our coalition made up of red and blue states alike who understood we needed to come together to protect\u00a0our consumers, businesses, and state economies from Live Nation\u2019s illegal conduct.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong the advocacy groups who cheered on the verdict Wednesday was the National Independent Venue Association. NIVA\u2019s executive director Stephen Parker said in a statement that \u201cthe jury confirmed what artists, fans, and independent venues have believed for 15 years: Live Nation is a monopoly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cLive Nation and Ticketmaster must be broken up now,\u201d Parker said. \u201cTicketmaster should not be permitted to participate in the ticket resale market. Live Nation should not be able to promote more than 50% of artists\u2019 tours. And the damages paid to the states should be remitted to the independent venues, promoters, festivals, and fans that have suffered under Live Nation\u2019s monopolistic reign over the last 15 years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Live Nation Entertainment has been found liable in its bombshell monopoly lawsuit a major move that could drastically…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,17985,88,9827,101271],"class_list":["post-586887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-department-of-justice","tag-entertainment","tag-live-nation","tag-ticketmaster"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}