Live Nation Must Be Broken Up From Ticketmaster After Monopoly Verdict, States Tell Judge

Live Nation must be broken up from Ticketmaster, state attorneys general told a federal judge Thursday (May 21), weeks after a blockbuster jury verdict that the music giant is an illegal monopoly.

Laying out their proposed punishment after that verdict, a coalition of dozens of states argue in a hotly-anticipated legal brief that the only way to fix the live music business is to force Live Nation to sell Ticketmaster.

“An order requiring Live Nation to divest Ticketmaster, such that it is capable of restoring competition for primary ticketing contracts with Major Concert Venues,” the states wrote in a list of orders it’s seeking from the judge.

The Department of Justice and dozens of states sued Live Nation in 2024, claiming the company (which acquired Ticketmaster in 2010) had grown into a monopoly that dominates live music: “It is time to break it up,” said then-attorney general Merrick Garland.

A week after the case went to trial in March, the DOJ agreed to a surprise settlement that did not require such a breakup. But dozens of states said that deal was insufficient, and instead pushed ahead with the trial, with the goal of splitting Ticketmaster from Live Nation.

On April 15, jurors handed Live Nation a total defeat — finding that the company had illegally monopolized the market for ticketing services and the use of amphitheaters, and that it had illegally tied the use of its venues to its concert promotion services.

Now, a month later, the states have made it official. In the terminology of antitrust law, they’re asking the judge to impose “structural remedies” that require Live Nation’s “divestiture” of Ticketmaster. “Plaintiffs are evaluating the scope of assets, contracts, personnel, and systems that would be necessary for a standalone Ticketmaster to effectively compete in the market for primary ticketing services,” the states wrote in seeking that order.

That’s not all the states want. They also asked the judge to force Live Nation to divest “a sufficient number” of large amphitheaters, as well as put limits or prohibitions on the company when it comes to acquiring such venues in the future. And they want “money damages for overcharges on ticketing fees paid by residents of the Plaintiff States” as well as the handover of “ill-gotten profits derived from ticketing fees” during the time of the “unlawful monopoly.”

A rep for Live Nation did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday. The company is expected to argue that the case can be resolved solely by the changes to its business practices previously agreed to with the DOJ, including limiting the use of exclusive contracts, without divesting Ticketmaster. “We remain confident that the ultimate outcome of the states’ case will not be materially different than what is envisioned by the DOJ settlement,” said Live Nation in a statement last month.