After winning antitrust case, states ask court to split up Live Nation and Ticketmaster

MANHATTAN (CN) — A coalition of more than 30 states, fresh off a victorious antitrust trial against Live Nation and Ticketmaster, are now demanding that the companies be split up to promote fair competition in the live music industry.

The states are seeking an order from U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian that would require Live Nation "to divest Ticketmaster, such that it is capable of restoring competition for primary ticketing contracts with major concert venues."

"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 to major concert venues," the states added in the seven-page proposal filed Thursday.

Their request to break up the companies is a "performative and political" one, according to Live Nation.

"The jury verdict in this case cannot support a request for divesting Ticketmaster from Live Nation," the company said in a statement.

Subramanian presided over the six-week trial earlier this spring, when New York City jurors sided with the suing states in finding that the vertically integrated companies used their dominant market shares in the concert industry to strong-arm artists and venues into doing business with them.

Now, the Joe Biden appointee will oversee a second leg of the trial to determine how the companies will do business going forward.

In addition to asking for the companies to break up, the states are also looking for Live Nation to divest "a sufficient number of Live Nation-owned large amphitheaters." At trial, the jury found Live Nation has a national monopoly over these specific kinds of outdoor venues.

Live Nation has already agreed to divest from 13 exclusive booking agreements with amphitheaters and opening up venues to other promoters, pursuant to a mid-trial settlement with the Department of Justice, which initially led the case. It's unclear precisely what the states will seek in addition.

In a filing of its own on Thursday, Live Nation argues the court allowed "highly prejudicial evidence" to come into the record and pushed for the case to be reheard in front of a new jury.

Live Nation claims the states were unfairly allowed to focus on a set of inflammatory Slack messages from one of the company's ticketing employees, who boasted in 2022 about ripping off concertgoers and "robbing them blind" with exorbitant parking prices at Live Nation events.

The employee, Ben Baker, sent subsequent messages to a colleague describing customers as "so stupid." He has since been promoted to the head of ticketing for Live Nation venues, and testified at trial that his language was "immature" and "unacceptable."

Still, Live Nation claims Baker's messages were irrelevant to the antitrust claims and solely shown to the jury to "portray defendants in a negative light."

"It was pellucidly clear plaintiffs intended to use the evidence to provoke an emotional response," the company argues, adding that the states focused on Baker's texts "witness after witness."

Live Nation also claims Subramanian offered erroneous jury instructions that tipped the scale in the states' favor. If the court doesn't outright reverse the jury verdict, it should at least offer a do-over trial, the company argues.

It's a standard request, but one that carries a high bar for success. Live Nation acknowledges in the filing it will likely have to bring its arguments to the Second Circuit.

"We understand and acknowledge that the court thought long and hard about the instructions it gave and, therefore, is not likely to change its minds now," the company writes.

Jurors found last month that Live Nation and Ticketmaster used their respective market dominances to secure anticompetitive deals with artists and venues, resulting in higher ticket prices for consumers.

After deliberating for four days, the jury determined Ticketmaster wielded an unlawful monopoly over live event ticketing and Live Nation monopolized the national market for large amphitheaters.

The jurors also agreed with the states' assessment that this behavior caused concertgoers to be overcharged for shows at a rate of $1.72 per ticket, a finding that could force the companies to pay several hundred millions of dollars in damages.

The verdict was an emphatic win for the states, who opted out of the DOJ's surprise settlement to pursue more ambitious terms at trial.

The DOJ initially brought the case in 2024 under former President Joe Biden. But five days into the trial, the department announced in March that it had reached a $280 million deal with Live Nation and Ticketmaster, which ordered several changes to the companies' business models but did not require them to split.

Several of the states lambasted the settlement, seeing it as a slap on the wrist from Trump's DOJ that has been criticized for being soft on white-collar justice.

Subramanian set the second trial — a bench trial to determine penalties following the states' victory — for early 2027.