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A jury in a high-stakes antitrust trial found Wednesday that Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster illegally maintained monopoly power in the ticketing market.
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Jurors delivered the verdict in federal court in New York City after around five weeks of trial, which featured testimony from dozens of witnesses. The jury began deliberating Friday.
The complaint, initially brought by the Justice Department and dozens of state attorneys general in 2024, claimed Live Nation monopolized the industry by controlling ticketing, concert booking, venues and promotions.
The lawsuit alleged that the company engaged in “anticompetitive conduct,” resulting in fans’ paying higher fees, artists’ having fewer options for touring and venues’ being coerced to use Ticketmaster.
The jury found that Ticketmaster overcharged concertgoers in the plaintiff state by $1.72 per ticket at “major concert venues” as a result of its anticompetitive behavior. Other monetary damages are possible, which U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian will ultimately decide later.
“This is a fantastic outcome for the American people,” Omeed A. Assefi, the acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, said in a statement. “DOJ and some states settled their case and got instant relief. The remaining states received a liability finding and will now move on to the next phase of a remedies trial. Everyone but Live Nation wins with this scenario.”
Live Nation, which has vehemently denied acting as a monopoly, saw its stock drop over 5% on the news as investors weighed what the verdict could mean for its future.
Live Nation said in a statement Wednesday afternoon: “The jury’s verdict is not the last word on this matter. Pending motions will determine whether the liability and damages rulings stand.”
It said it plans to “renew its motion for judgment as a matter of law, which the Court deferred until after the jury returned its verdict. That motion addresses all liability theories. The Court previously noted that Live Nation’s motion raises serious issues.”
“There is also a pending motion to strike the damages testimony on which the jury’s award was based,” the statement continued. “The Court deferred ruling on that motion as well, while noting significant concerns with the damages expert’s analysis.”
Live Nation said the jury’s award of $1.72 per ticket “applies to a limited number of tickets—those sold at 257 venues, which represent about 20% of total tickets—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, which would be trebled,” the company said. “In connection with the DOJ settlement, Live Nation has already accrued $280 million toward state damages and civil penalty claims. Injunctive relief will be determined by the Court after the states make a remedy proposal, which we expect in the coming weeks.”
Following the decision, Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney for the states, told NBC News outside the courtroom: “It’s a great day for antitrust law. It’s a great day for consumers. This case is a tribute to the 34 states and the District of Columbia who carried this case forward, and it was my great honor to be working with them together on this.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Attorney General Rob Bonta also praised the verdict in separate statements.
“A jury found what we have long known to be true: Live Nation and Ticketmaster are breaking the law and costing consumers millions of dollars in the process,” James said.
Bonta called the verdict “a historic and resounding victory for artists, fans, and the venues that support them.”
“In the face of dwindling antitrust enforcement by the Trump Administration, this verdict shows just how far states can go to protect our residents from big corporations that are using their power to illegally raise prices and rip-off Americans,” Bonta said.
Antitrust lawyers have told NBC News that settlements can range from modest sets of conduct changes to sweeping consent decrees.
The federal government struck a surprise deal with Live Nation in March after a face-to-face meeting between Assefi and CEO Michael Rapino.
The settlement came just weeks after the ousting of Gail Slater, who had been the Justice Department’s top antitrust chief before she abruptly exited her position on Feb. 12. Slater had been particularly aggressive against Big Tech companies.
Slater wrote on X following the verdict: “Congrats to the mighty State AG coalition that stood behind this case. You made antitrust history today. You fought the good fight, you finished the race, and you kept the faith.”
In an interview with NBC News, the jury forewoman weighed in on how deliberations went.
“Antitrust is not an easy subject, but easy in a sense that we were all respectful about each other, about what we were thinking,” she said. “We were taking turns about expressing our beliefs.”
She said Live Nation “demonstrated during the trial many things where they were doing wrong,” such as “charging the fans for things that they were not supposed to charge.”
“Hopefully they will do the right thing in the future,” she added.
The Justice Department settlement required Ticketmaster to divest up to 13 amphitheaters, reserve 50% of tickets for nonexclusive venues and cap ticketing service fees at 15%.
After the deal was reached, a senior Justice Department official said it would lower prices by expanding choices for both artists and consumers.
Live Nation previously said in a statement, “This settlement will resolve all remaining matters with the DOJ, without any admission of wrongdoing.”
Still, a majority of the state attorneys general snubbed the deal and pursued their own claims. Leading up to Wednesday’s verdict, Ray Seilie, an attorney at Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir, told NBC News that the Justice Department settlement, which he described as highly unusual, would set “a floor or minimum” for further remedies in the states’ case.
Subramanian will ultimately determine the remedies.
During closing arguments, Kessler pleaded with jurors to “apply your common sense.”
“You’re New Yorkers,” he said. “I trust that you know when someone is blowing smoke or being straight with you.”
“It’s time to hold them accountable,” he added.
The states found that Ticketmaster has an 86% share of the ticketing market at “major concert venues,” which Kessler defined as roughly 250 amphitheaters and arenas in the U.S. with capacities of 8,000 and hosting more than 10 concerts a year.
Live Nation, meanwhile, argued the states have defined the market too narrowly, maintaining their market share is closer to 44% when a broader set of venues — including all stadiums, arenas and amphitheaters, as well as those that host sports — is taken into account.
Beyond venue operations, Kessler said Live Nation “kept digging the moat deeper around the monopoly castle” with its lengthy exclusive ticketing contracts with venues and in light of allegations it threatened to withhold concerts from any if they switched to rival ticketers.
Those arguments came even after the states narrowed the scope of their case.
Last week, the states dropped their claim that Live Nation engaged in unlawful exclusive dealing with venues, focusing instead on broader monopolization allegations. At the time, legal experts said the move could simplify the case for jurors but also make it harder to directly tie the company’s conduct to higher ticket prices.
David Marriott, an attorney for Live Nation, responded to Kessler’s claims: “This notion that the fans and the venues are doing worse with Live Nation, but that’s simply not true.”
The company is “bringing concerts to the country and fans,” Marriott said.
While Marriott conceded that Live Nation is a “big” company, he said: “It’s not against the law. We are fierce competitors.”
Allie Canal is a business reporter for NBC News.
Chloe Atkins reports for the NBC News National Security and Law Unit, based in New York.
Adam Reiss is a reporter and producer for NBC and MSNBC.
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