Jury Finds Live Nation, Ticketmaster Illegally Monopolized Concert Ticketing

A federal jury in Manhattan found Monday that Live Nation Entertainment and its Ticketmaster subsidiary illegally monopolized key parts of the live-concert business and overcharged fans, a landmark antitrust verdict that now moves to a remedies phase that could reshape how Americans buy concert tickets.

The jury in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York concluded that Live Nation and Ticketmaster held and abused monopoly power over major concert venues and related ticketing markets. After four days of deliberations, jurors found that Ticketmaster overcharged consumers by an average of $1.72 per ticket, a figure that will guide how much the company ultimately has to pay.

The decision is a sharp rebuke to the country’s dominant live-events company and a major win for a coalition of 34 states that pressed ahead with the case even after the U.S. Department of Justice reached a separate settlement with Live Nation earlier this year.

“It’s a great day for antitrust law,” Jeffrey Kessler, lead attorney for the states, said after the verdict.

The case, filed in May 2024 as United States et al. v. Live Nation Entertainment Inc., case number 1:24‑cv‑03973‑AS, was overseen by U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian. The Justice Department and state attorneys general had accused Live Nation of using the dominance it gained from its 2010 merger with Ticketmaster to lock up venues, promoters and artists, and to keep rivals out of the market in violation of federal antitrust law.

In March, the Justice Department announced a tentative settlement with Live Nation. Many states publicly criticized that deal as too weak and declined to join, choosing instead to take the case to trial. States that remained in the lawsuit included New York, California, New Jersey and others, 34 in total.

New York Attorney General Letitia James called the jury’s decision “a landmark victory…to protect our economy and New Yorkers’ wallets.” New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said Live Nation’s “illegal, anti‑competitive practices have caused immense damage in our state, exploiting consumers by driving up the price of tickets and making it harder for fans to see their favorite artists.”

The jury’s verdict addresses liability and the average per-ticket overcharge. It found that Live Nation and Ticketmaster had acted as a monopoly in the ticketing and live-events markets presented at trial. Judge Subramanian will translate those findings into a formal judgment and then decide what penalties and changes, if any, to impose on the company.

Possible remedies in large antitrust cases can include monetary damages, bans on certain contract terms, limits on specific business practices, or structural changes such as divestitures of assets or business units. In its original complaint, the Justice Department had signaled it was prepared to seek structural relief, including a potential breakup of parts of Live Nation’s business, but the judge has not yet ruled on any remedy in this case.

Subramanian has directed the parties to file a joint letter, including input from the United States, proposing a schedule for post-verdict motions and for the remedies phase. Only after that process will the court determine the total damages, which coverage and state lawyers have said could reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars depending on how the $1.72 per‑ticket figure is applied, and decide what changes Live Nation must make.

At trial, the states focused on Live Nation’s vertical integration — its combined role as the leading concert promoter, a major venue owner and operator, and the dominant primary ticketing platform through Ticketmaster. Court filings described Live Nation as operating roughly 54,000 events a year and controlling around 394 venues as of late 2024.

Plaintiffs told jurors that Ticketmaster controlled roughly 86% of the concert ticketing market, and about 73% when sports events were included, figures they argued reflected entrenched monopoly power. They said Live Nation used long-term, exclusive ticketing contracts and its control over tours and venues to shut out competing ticketing firms.

Jurors also saw internal Ticketmaster messages that appeared to belittle customers and acknowledge high prices. In one message shown at trial, a Ticketmaster employee described prices as “outrageous,” called customers “so stupid,” and said the company was “robbing them blind, baby.”

Live Nation has consistently denied that it is a monopoly and argued that its practices comply with U.S. antitrust law. During the case, company lawyer David Marriott told the court, “Success is not against the antitrust laws in the United States.”

Live Nation Chief Executive Michael Rapino took the stand and was questioned about the botched 2022 presale for Taylor Swift’s tour, which left fans facing outages, hours-long waits and sky-high resale prices. State attorneys used that episode to illustrate what they said were the real-world consequences of Ticketmaster’s market power.

The verdict adds another chapter to longstanding scrutiny of Ticketmaster and Live Nation, which merged in 2010 under a Justice Department consent decree that set conditions on the combined company’s behavior. The Justice Department’s 2024 lawsuit argued that, despite those earlier conditions, Live Nation used its control over promotion, venues and ticketing to exclude rivals and maintain monopoly power in multiple markets tied to primary ticket sales.

Live Nation’s stock fell after the verdict. As of 20:59:13 UTC on Monday, shares of Live Nation Entertainment, which trades under the ticker LYV, were at $155.82 and down intraday.

The decision in Manhattan does not resolve all of Live Nation’s legal exposure; private class actions and other litigation are proceeding in parallel. But the jury’s findings, and the remedies Judge Subramanian now must weigh, put the future shape of the country’s largest live-events company and the concert ticketing market squarely in the hands of a federal court.