What happened
A federal jury in New York on Wednesday found that Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary operated as an illegal monopoly, harming ticket buyers, artists and entertainment venues. The case was brought in 2024 by the Justice Department and 39 state attorneys general, but days into the seven-week trial, the DOJ announced a surprise settlement with Live Nation. More than 30 states rejected the deal as inadequate and continued their litigation.
Who said what
The verdict “will be an earthquake in the industry,” legal analyst Scott Grzenczyk told CNN. There’s a “big difference between people complaining about Goliath and getting a jury verdict that Goliath was a monopolist.” Gail Slater, the DOJ antitrust chief pushed out weeks before the settlement, congratulated the “mighty state AG coalition that stood behind this case” and “made antitrust history” in a post on X. Live Nation, which denied using its vast reach to smother competition, said it would appeal.
What next?
The ruling “won’t immediately bring relief for concertgoers who have long complained about high ticket prices,” The Associated Press said. But in the case’s remedies stage, the judge could hit Live Nation with “steep monetary penalties,” said Business Insider, or even a “court-ordered breakup of the company.”
The verdict “will be an earthquake in the industry,”one analyst said
