What Does Live Nation / Ticketmaster Being Sued Mean For Sports And Music Fans?

After years of threatening to do so, the Department of Justice finally filed an antitrust suit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster in an attempt to break up what they believe is a monopoly on the ticketing industry. Both companies had previously merged in 2010 under the Live Nation Entertainment umbrella. 

The lawsuit, which was filed in the Southern District of New York, comes at a time when there has been increasing skepticism and criticism of the ticket conglomerate allegedly boosting ticket prices while squeezing out any competition. The antitrust lawsuit was fast tracked after Taylor Swift's Eras presale debacle in 2021 that saw hundreds of thousands of fans locked out from acquiring tickets. As I covered here at OutKick extensively, it was an absolute mess.

But the real question is - what does this mean for YOU, the sports and music fan that is tired of paying absurd prices? 

Let me break it down for you.

Swifties demand the breakup of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

DOJ FILES SUIT TO BREAK UP LIVE NATION TICKETMASTER MONOPOLY

The Department of Justice is claiming that because Live Nation owns 60 percent-plus of America's larger live venues as well as owns the world's largest ticketing platform in Ticktemaster, that there is an unfair power structure that squashes any kind of competition. 

"It is time to break up Live Nation," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement while announcing the lawsuit earlier today. "Fans are spending more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services."

Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Letitia James - who is one of 30 state AG's that has joined in on the antitrust suit, argued that, "When companies like Live Nation control every aspect of an event, it leads to bad blood - concertgoers and sports fans suffer and are forced to pay more. Everybody agrees, Live Nation and Ticketmaster are the problem and it's time for a new era. Today, we are taking this important action to protect consumers and force big companies to stop abusing their influence and get in formation."

Live Nation Entertainment (LNE), however, released a statement countering those charges by saying that this is just a move by the Biden Administration and the Biden DOJ to go after another industry on the grounds of antitrust violations. Currently, the DOJ has other lawsuits out against Apple, some Big Tech companies in general, various airlines, ActiVision and more - many of which have been going on for years.

Meanwhile, Live Nation Entertainment also argued that it doesn't set ticket prices, but rather that the higher fees fall on promoters, artists and sports teams' guarantees, more expensive production costs, etc. The company also disagreed that they have too much power by saying that "there is more cmpetition than ever in the live events market - which is why Ticketmaster's market share has declined since 2010."

In a statement, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that "President Biden strongly supports fair and robust enforcement of the antitrust laws…no American should pay higher prices or lose choices because companies break the law and engage in anti-competitive practice," before adding that the Administration is focused on fighting "corporate greed."

WASHINGTON, DC - A woman demonstrates against the live entertainment ticket industry outside the U.S. Capitol January 24, 2023. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

WILL TICKET PRICES BE CHEAPER ANYTIME SOON?

Sorry to break it to you, but no. 

While this lawsuit is being battled in court, there's no way ticket prices or fees will go down. You need to understand that many contracts have already been signed and agreed to for over a year in some instances. That's not suddenly going to stop just because of litigation - which can take years, as we've seen with the DOJ vs Apple antitrust cases.

It's also important to keep in mind that the ticketing and scalping industry is MASSIVE in Washington DC. We're talking right under the power of Big Pharma and Big Tech - it is that big. Live Nation alone is worth $23.6 BILLION dollars - of course, it has its hand in with Congress.

POLITICS AT PLAY AS WELL

Having said all of that, the reason why this is being pushed through right now is because of the sheer passion that the Taylor Swift debacle brought out from families everywhere. And, because the No. 1 rule in politics is to never let a crisis go to waste, you can understand why you had politicians on both sides of the aisle such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ted Cruz jumping on board and tweeting about Taylor Swift of all things - who had that in their Bingo cards?

Much like the student loan forgiveness debate going on and the public posturing that is happening - coincidentally, during a Presidential election year, much could be the same about this antitrust suit. 

The bottom line is, promoters, artists, venues and the like are not going to suddenly start losing money if somehow the DOJ ends up winning this case (or they come to a settlement.) 

I wouldn't be surprised if the high ticket fee just gets transferred onto the initial ticket price itself.

And in the end, the consumer still gets screwed.

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER FOR CONTINUING UPDATES ON TICKETMASTER, LIVE NATION AND LIVE SPORTING EVENTS:  @TheGunzShow