Live Nation and Ticketmaster illegally monopolized ticket market, jury finds
Live Nation and Ticketmaster illegally monopolized ticket market, jury finds
Raechal ShewfeltWed, April 15, 2026 at 10:58 PM UTC
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Taylor Swift performs in 2024Credit: Kevin Mazur/TAS24/Getty for TAS Rights ManagementKey Points -
A federal jury in New York has found that Live Nation acts as a monopoly following a seven-week trial.
Jurors determined that consumers were overcharged $1.72 for each ticket.
Backlash against the company was fueled by the messy sale of tickets for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour.
File this under not a "Love Story": A federal jury in New York City has declared Ticketmaster owner Live Nation an illegal monopoly.
The lawsuit, brought by the Department of Justice under President Joe Biden and joined by dozens of states, alleged the behemoth name in live music violated antitrust laws at the federal and state levels.
President Donald Trump's DOJ, however, settled with the company a week into the trial, according to The New York Times. So, 34 of the 40 states that had joined the lawsuit proceeded with their own claims.
Following a seven-week trial, nine jurors deliberated for four days and found that consumers had been charged an extra $1.72 per ticket.
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Judge Arun Subramanian now has the discretion to decide how the company should move forward. The federal government had initially called for the company to be broken up. Live Nation could also be punished monetarily.
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The complaint, reviewed by Entertainment Weekly when it was filed, said Live Nation directly managed more than 400 musical artists, as well as about 60 percent of concert promotions at major venues across the country and about 80 percent of ticketing for major concert venues through Ticketmaster.
Issues with the company were highlighted in 2022, when sales of tickets to Swift's record-shattering Eras Tour went anything but smoothly. Swifties found their ticket-buying windows moved or canceled, and the company was unable to meet the high demand.
When the lawsuit was originally filed against Live Nation, the company told EW in a statement, "The DOJ's lawsuit won't solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees, and access to in-demand shows. Calling Ticketmaster a monopoly may be a PR win for the DOJ in the short term, but it will lose in court because it ignores the basic economics of live entertainment, such as the fact that the bulk of service fees go to venues, and that competition has steadily eroded Ticketmaster's market share and profit margin."
The Weeknd had one of the biggest concert tours of 2025Credit: Prince Williams/WireImage
The statement continued: "Our growth comes from helping artists tour globally, creating lasting memories for millions of fans, and supporting local economies across the country by sustaining quality jobs. We will defend against these baseless allegations, use this opportunity to shed light on the industry, and continue to push for reforms that truly protect consumers and artists."
Former Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, disagreed.
"We allege that Live Nation relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States at the cost of fans, artists, smaller promoters, and venue operators," he said. "The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services. It is time to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster."
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
