{"id":1529,"date":"2026-03-04T04:46:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T04:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/owspakistan.com\/?p=1529"},"modified":"2026-03-04T09:14:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T09:14:47","slug":"live-nation-ticketmaster-doj-opening-statements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/owspakistan.com\/?p=1529","title":{"rendered":"Does Ticketmaster have a stranglehold on concert ticketing \u2014 or is it just \u2018bringing joy\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

In a downtown Manhattan courtroom on Monday, lawyers for the US Justice Department and 40 state and district attorneys general warned a jury<\/a> that the concert industry was being squeezed by a monopolist: Live Nation-Tickemaster. After amassing dominance over ticketing and artists\u2019 use of large amphitheaters, lead DOJ counsel David Dahlquist alleged, Live Nation constructed a \u201cflywheel\u201d of power that forced venue customers to stay within its ecosystem. It threatened or retaliated against them when they considered leaving. To even attempt to win business, Dahlquist said, ticketing rivals needed to offer \u201cretaliation insurance\u201d to venues worried about losing out on Live Nation shows by making the switch. \u201cToday, the concert ticketing industry is broken,\u201d Dahlquist told the jury in his opening statement. \u201cIt is controlled by Live Nation and the company it owns, Ticketmaster.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In Live Nation\u2019s telling, the story is more upbeat. The company aims to spread joy, and in fact, there\u2019s more concert venues than ever before, said lead Live Nation counsel David Marriott. Even the opening slides were energetic, lit up with images of colorful concerts and tour posters of well-known artists like Bad Bunny and Ariana Grande. \u201cSaying you\u2019re better is not a THREAT!\u201d one memorable slide told the jury, the last word written in red to underscore the point.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The next six weeks will see a long-awaited court battle over whether Live Nation-Ticketmaster illegally monopolized markets for ticketing at major concert venues and use of large amphitheaters by artists. A finding of liability by the jury could potentially lead to a breakup of the company, though Live Nation contends that should be off the table based on certain claims dismissed before trial. A loss for the government would be a blow to its aggressive anti-monopoly push in recent years, at a time when a recent shake-up<\/a> at the Antitrust Division itself has raised questions about corporate influence<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In court on the first day, the government and Live Nation painted competing pictures of a company that\u2019s omnipresent in the music business. Behind the scenes, they were engaging in aggressive lawyering \u2014 before the jury entered the courtroom, Judge Arun Subramanian warned the attorneys that he detected \u201cgamesmanship\u201d in attempts to get each others\u2019 exhibits or arguments thrown out of the case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

To win, the DOJ and states need to prove that Live Nation-Ticketmaster \u2014 which it estimates holds an 86 percent market share in primary ticketing for major concert venues, and 78 percent market share for use of large amphitheaters by artists \u2014 has monopoly power in the relevant markets, and that it illegally used that dominance to harm competition, through behavior that made it difficult for customers to leave for a rival. One prominent example it plans to use to demonstrate this is negotiations with the Barclays Center, which left, then returned, to Ticketmaster as a vendor. \u201cWhen they tried to switch, they got punished,\u201d Dahlquist said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cThere are no damages here, because we\u2019ve done nothing wrong\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ticketmaster\u2019s disastrous Taylor Swift meltdown<\/a> is expected to come up at trial, which the DOJ cites as evidence of a monopolist\u2019s underinvestment in its technology. Marriott chalked it up to a cyberattack that only Ticketmaster\u2019s system could have handled as well as it ultimately did. While the state plaintiffs are seeking damages for what they believe Ticketmaster overcharged customers in what would have been a fair market, Marriott said, \u201cthere are no damages here, because we\u2019ve done nothing wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Marriott attempted to humanize the business, introducing his trial team and some executives in the courtroom, who stood up and smiled at the jury. Though Live Nation and Ticketmaster are corporations, he said, they\u2019re \u201cmade up of men and women who wish very much to do the right thing.\u201d Marriott reminisced about his own experiences at live events ranging from the circus as a kid, to an \u201cawkward\u201d first date at a Lionel Richie concert. \u201cLive Nation and Ticketmaster are all about bringing joy to people\u2019s lives and doing it lawfully,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ticketmaster only makes a small cut of the money from a ticket sale, Marriott said, with just a 5 percent take rate. And the venue operators that are \u201csupposedly being abused\u201d by the business are really \u201cwell-to-do folks,\u201d Marriott said, pointing to a slide of large venues and their owners, like Intuit Dome, owned by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cLive Nation and Ticketmaster are all about bringing joy to people\u2019s lives and doing it lawfully\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Marriott argued that Live Nation-Ticketmaster\u2019s market share is really only 40 percent in ticketing and 18 percent in venues, when you count things that the DOJ left out, like stadiums and most arenas, which are often used for sporting events but also concerts. And it wasn\u2019t retaliation that brought the Barclays Center back into the fold with Ticketmaster, but the fact that \u201cSeatGeek fell down on the job,\u201d he said. Marriott acknowledged that the jury may hear about a call with Barclays Center leadership where Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino \u201closes his cool\u201d and \u201cdrops the F-bomb,\u201d but these were merely signs of frustration about losing out on a contract, not true threats. After all, he said, telling a customer there are consequences for choosing an inferior product is just telling it like it is.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

This call and other details could come up on Wednesday, when the DOJ plans to call former Barclays Center CEO John Abbamondi to testify. Soon after, the jury is expected to hear from a top executive for the Minnesota Wild Hockey Club, a venue management company, and the co-founder and CEO of SeatGeek. Over the course of trial, they\u2019ll also likely hear from Rapino, artists like Kid Rock and Ben Lovett of Mumford & Sons, and even a couple music fans. Then, the jury will decide if the concert industry is really as joyful as Live Nation contends.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Follow topics and authors<\/strong> from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.<\/span><\/p>\n