With an encore sure to include appeals, calls to sell off Ticketmaster and more, Live Nation today was deemed an illegal monopoly by a federal jury in New York City.
In a case brought to court by California and dozens of other states for a five-week trial, the Michael Rapino-run promoter and events corporation saw internal correspondence about “robbing them blind, baby” and taking “advantage” of consumers with high prices. Live Nation refuted the statements as simply ill-considered remarks by individual staffers, but the stink was on, in and outside the Manhattan courtroom of Judge Arun Subramanian.
It is worthy noting that one of the points the jury made today is that Live Nation was guilty of overcharging customers for tickets, to the tune of almost $2.00 a ticket for concerts and shows.
To put that in a bottom line context, Live Nation hauled in over $25 billion in revenue in 2025. With Ticketmaster in charge of tickets for a staggering 80% of “major concert venues,” according to the initial government suit. That $25.2 billion revenue was a nearly double digit bounce over 2024. Put in terms of bums in seats, about 160 million concert and show fans showing up for 55,000 Live Nation handled events and gigs last year.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged in 2010 in a move that Barack Obama’s DOJ signed off on. Over the years since, Live Nation & Ticketmaster have come under the antitrust spotlight over and over — such as in 2019 in Donald Trump‘s first term when the company made a new arrangement with the feds after being accused of strong arming venues into inking deals with Ticketmaster
Now, 16 years later after the merger, reps for Live Nation, who disputed the government’s math and premise on almost every level during this year’s trial, did not reply to request for comment on Wednesday’s verdict.
On the flip side, the Golden State’s Attorney General was quick to claim victory in the case, which was first filed two years ago. “This is a historic and resounding victory for artists, fans, and the venues that support them,” said Rob Bonta this afternoon in an online post.
In a longer statement, AG Bonta, who is leading the charge among Blue States to scrutinize Paramount’s $111 billion purchase of Warner Bros Discovery, added: “The verdict is in! A jury today found Live Nation/Ticketmaster liable for anticompetitive conduct that harmed the music industry and included overcharging consumers. This is 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. We are incredibly proud of today’s outcome — and especially proud of our coalition made up of red and blue states alike who understood we needed to come together to protect our consumers, businesses, and state economies from Live Nation’s illegal conduct.”
Judge Subramanian, known to many for overseeing the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial last year, will determine the consequences of the verdict for Live Nation in a separate process. That process could see big fines and a break-up of the company, who have made it pretty clear they aren’t going gently into the love concert night.
At the same time, another judge has yet to formally sign off on the $280 million settlement the Donald Trump’s Department of Justice suddenly reached last month with Live Nation. Rolled out in the first week of the NYC trial, that deal, which would see damages spread among various states involved in the suit, limited much-hated service fees to 15%, and carved off some of Live Nation’s control of specific venues,
It also saw the DOJ exit the antitrust case.
“By giving artists greater flexibility in choosing their promotional partners and ticketing strategy while also keeping the cost of a concert more affordable for fans, we are putting more power where it should be – with artists and fans,” CEO Rapino said in a statement on March 9.
The settlement deal also saw 34 of the 40 states in the matter say no deal, and continue with the litigation against the company – which named longtime Trump loyalist Richard Grenell to its board last May.
Judge Subramanian wasn’t impressed either with the fast ball DOJ/Live Nation agreement.
“It shows absolute disrespect for the court, the jury and this entire process,” he declared out of earshot of the jury on March 9 as news of the DOJ deal broke. “It is absolutely unacceptable.”
The judge wasn’t the only one who scowled at what then AG Pam Bondi‘s team had negotiated in the days after the February ouster of Gail Slater, who led the DOJ Antitrust Division.
Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen
Getty Images
Having earned the wrath of Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen fans (AKA most of America) over the way tickets are sold and priced, Live Nation has more recently received heavy blowback on Capitol Hill from Democratic Senators over the DOJ settlement too.
“That the settlement was hashed out without input from the lawyers trying the case demonstrates this was not a settlement struck in response to perceived litigation risk or to protect the public from harms resulting from alleged anticompetitive behavior,” said a letter today to Judge Subamanian from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) and more.