Ticketmaster retains a mean of $7.58 of the value of every ticket for occasions at main live performance venues, an legal professional for New York state informed jurors at a trial on Tuesday through which dozens of states are looking for to recoup damages for followers.
Ticketmaster and its father or mother firm, Live Nation, are accused of abusing their market energy to prop up unlawful monopolies within the live performance trade. The trial in Manhattan might consequence within the US Department of Justice arguing for a breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster or the businesses paying compensation to ticket purchasers.
The DoJ and the attorneys common of New York and 38 different states plus Washington DC declare the leisure conglomerate dominates live-event markets in ways in which harm artists, venues and followers.
“Today, the concert ticket industry is broken, in fact the concert industry itself is broken,” DoJ legal professional David Dahlquist informed jurors in his opening assertion. “It is controlled by a monopolist. It is controlled by Live Nation.”
Ticketmaster retains extra in charges than opponents akin to AXS, in line with an professional’s estimate cited by Jonathan Hatch, an legal professional for New York state. Fans within the states looking for damages are estimated to have overpaid between $1.56 and $1.72 for tickets, Hatch mentioned.
“We are talking about real money coming out of people’s wallets,” he mentioned.
Live Nation legal professional David Marriott informed jurors that Ticketmaster takes about 5% of what followers pay for tickets. The firm just isn’t a monopolist and faces fierce competitors throughout the trade, he mentioned.
“Every customer we get is a hard-fought battle in a competitive marketplace,” he mentioned.
Singer Kid Rock and Ben Lovett of the band Mumford & Sons are anticipated to testify on the trial, as are executives from rival ticketing corporations and venues, together with Madison Square Garden. The DoJ alleges within the case filed in 2024 that Live Nation holds unlawful monopolies in sure venue and ticketing markets. Live Nation is accused of requiring artists to make use of its live performance promotion companies in the event that they carry out on the outside amphitheaters it owns.
The DoJ additionally alleges the corporate’s Ticketmaster arm dominated ticketing companies via threats and multi-year unique contracts with main live performance venues. Arun Subramanian, a US district decide, lately minimize a number of claims from the case, however rejected Live Nation’s request to pause the trial to permit it to enchantment. The US Federal Trade Commission has filed a separate case in opposition to Ticketmaster, accusing the corporate of permitting exploitative ticket resellers to flout its guidelines and gouge followers.
