Jury finds that Ticketmaster and Live Nation had an anticompetitive monopoly over big concert venues

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 3:10 PM EDT, April 15, 2026


NEW YORK (AP) — A jury has found that concert giant Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary had a harmful monopoly over big concert venues, dealing the company a loss in a lawsuit over claims brought by dozens of U.S. states.

A Manhattan federal jury deliberated for four days before reaching its decision Wednesday in the closely watched case, which gave fans the equivalent of a backstage pass to a business that dominates live entertainment in the U.S. and beyond.

Live Nation Entertainment owns, operates, controls booking for or has an equity interest in hundreds of venues. Its subsidiary Ticketmaster is widely considered to be the world’s largest ticket-seller for live events.

The civil case, initially led by the U.S. federal government, accused Live Nation of using its reach to smother competition — by blocking venues from using multiple ticket sellers, for example. “It is time to hold them accountable,” Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney for the states, said in a closing argument, calling Live Nation a “monopolistic bully” that drove up prices for ticket buyers.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/live-nation-ticketmaster-antitrust-trial-f0ffdd20dd4f64e8b4bb9d97134b826f

[moniss]

1. Along with monopolistic deals

about concessions, merch, parking etc. NASCAR has used the same sort of playbook and if they hadn't settled they may well have been found similarly guilty like Live Nation.

[progressoid]

2. Live Nation Entertainment Inc. CEO Michael Rapino earned a total compensation package worth $139.0 million in 2022, or

Live Nation Entertainment Inc. CEO Michael Rapino earned a total compensation package worth $139.0 million in 2022, or 5,414x the company's median employee pay.

The combination of a hefty CEO stock award package and a large number of part-time and seasonal employees in its workforce resulted in Live Nation reporting the biggest CEO-to-median employee pay ratio among its large media and telecom peers.

Rapino's 2022 compensation was boosted by $116.7 million in stock awards tied in part to the executive's five-year employment agreement renewal. That compares to annual total compensation of $25,673 for the median employee at Live Nation in 2022. A significant portion of Live Nation's employees work part-time, seasonally, or only at key venues and festivals. By nature of their limited hours, these employees have "relatively low total compensation," the company said.

If Live Nation considered only its full-time salaried employees and excluded Rapino's one-time stock awards associated with his employee agreement, the company's CEO-to-median employee pay ratio would be 353-to-1.

......https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/articles/2023/8/live-nation-ceo-s-stock-awards-drive-up-pay-to-5-414x-median-employee-77214996

[TexasBushwhacker]

4. He also thinks there's "room for growth" in ticket prices

[twodogsbarking]

3. Four days of deliberation. Thank you jurors.

[FakeNoose]

5. They've been robbing the fans and ticket buyers for the last 40+ years

This is a sea change in the live entertainment field. Ticketmaster and Live Nation should be shut down by court order.

[Jacson6]

6. Apparently each class member will get $1.72 before lawyer fees.

The lawyers will take 45% of that so they will only get $0.95 each. I remember decades ago when I was young I joined a class action lawsuit against Sears. Class members received a coupon for Sears purchases for $7.20. The lawyers received millions of dollars.