The U.S. Justice Department sued Ticketmaster and its parent company Thursday, accusing them of running an illegal monopoly over live events in America and asking a court to break up the system that squelches competition and drives up prices for fans.
Live Nation, which has for years denied that it is violating antitrust laws, said Thursday that the lawsuit "won't solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees and access to in-demand shows." Michael Carrier, a professor at Rutgers Law School who specializes in antitrust litigation, said the Justice Department has a strong case. He expects Live Nation to "try to cast blame elsewhere," such as arguing that prices are set by artists or venues, but he said those explanations are weak.
Around 70 per cent of tickets for major concert venues in the U.S. are sold through Ticketmaster, according to data in a federal lawsuit filed by consumers in 2022. The company owns or controls more than 265 of North America's concert venues and dozens of top amphitheaters, according to the Justice Department.
Live Nation has maintained that ticket pricing is out of its hands, noting that artists and teams set prices and decide how tickets are sold. The company's executive vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs, Dan Wall, said in a statement Thursday that factors such as increasing production costs, artist popularity and online ticket scalping are "actually responsible for higher ticket prices.
Cassie Ventura has shared a statement expressing her gratitude for the support she has received since CNN's publication of a 2016 surveillance video that showed her being physically assaulted by her then-boyfriend, Sean 'Diddy' Combs.BusinessNvidia on Wednesday overshot Wall Street estimates as its profit skyrocketed, bolstered by the chip-making dominance that has made the company an icon of the artificial intelligence boom.
Thunderstorms produce lightning and downpours, risk continues into Thursday evening and night in the Maritimes