US Government Opens Landmark Antitrust Case Against Live Nation

The US Department of Justice’s antitrust trial against Live Nation and Ticketmaster commenced in federal court this week, seeking to determine whether the live music giant has unlawfully maintained monopoly power in promotion and ticketing.

Proceedings began in Manhattan, where federal prosecutors - joined by attorneys-general from 39 states and the District of Columbia - laid out claims that Live Nation Entertainment has used its scale across concert promotion, venue ownership, and ticketing to suppress competition and entrench Ticketmaster’s dominance.

Per Rolling Stone, the lawsuit, originally filed in 2024, centres on allegations that Live Nation leveraged its control of major venues and tours to pressure arenas and amphitheatres into long-term exclusive ticketing agreements with Ticketmaster. Prosecutors argue the company’s integrated model has limited choice for venues, restricted rival ticketing platforms, and weakened competitive pressure on fees and service standards.

Government lawyers told jurors the case is about restoring competition to what they described as a concentrated live entertainment marketplace. The DOJ is seeking structural remedies that could include separating Ticketmaster from Live Nation’s promotion and venue businesses.

“Today, the concert ticket industry is broken, in fact the concert industry itself is broken,” U.S. attorney David Dahlquist said during his opening statement. “It is controlled by a monopolist. It is controlled by Live Nation.”

Live Nation has denied the allegations. A lawyer for the company, David Marriott, insisted it “did not have monopoly power” during his opening statement. He argued instead that the live entertainment “marketplace is more competitive than ever it has been before”, asserting that "every customer we get is a hard-fought battle in a competitive market”.

While some of the DOJ's claims were narrowed in pre-trial rulings, the court allowed two core claims remain. First, that Live Nation illegally “ties” access to its myriad amphitheaters to its promotion services, meaning any artist that wants to play one of those venues has to use the company as a promoter. Second, that Live Nation illegally forces venues to sign long-term contracts with Ticketmaster, as opposed to other ticketing services, in part by threatening to keep popular tours from hitting venues that don’t use Ticketmaster.

The trial is expected to run for several weeks and will feature testimony from industry executives, venue operators, and artists including Kid Rock and Mumford & Sons' Ben Lovett. A ruling against Live Nation could trigger significant structural changes to the world’s largest live entertainment company, with potential implications for promoters, venues and touring markets globally, including Australia.