LiveNation, Ticket Master, DOJ's Betrayal, and State AGs' Success
In May of 2024, DOJ sued Live Nation after the November 2022 Taylor Swift Ticketmaster fiasco, arguing the company, which owns Ticket Master, was behaving like a monopoly. But it wasn’t just the Justice Department. The list of plaintiffs went on for three pages: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. In August, ten more states joined the case: Indiana, Kansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, and Vermont.
If you’ve noticed something unusual there, you’re not alone. The complaint includes red-state and blue-state attorneys general, bringing a lawsuit together, along with the Justice Department. It was the final year of the Biden Administration. There was universal outrage over the overbilling of customers. The complaint illustrated how the monopoly worked, with a series of graphics like this one.
Then, the administrations changed. But, still dressed for revenge, the case moved forward. The trial began on March 2, 2026, in the Southern District of New York. A week into trial, with little, if any, warning, the Department of Justice settled with Live Nation and abandoned its state AG partners. The state attorneys general told federal District Judge Arun Subramanian that DOJ was supposed to take the lead role at trial and they needed more time. The “tentative settlement” was reached on March 5, but the trial proceeded, and Judge Subramanian was only advised of the settlement on the evening of March 8. He called it “entirely unacceptable.” But it was a big, complicated case, and the jury was already in the box. After a brief delay, trial resumed.
California Attorney General stepped up, along with his colleagues. There’s nothing like hearing about it firsthand from a trial lawyer, and we’re lucky to get to do that, Sunday 11:45 am ET, when Attorney General Bonta joins us for a Substack Live you won’t want to miss! But here’s the spoiler: The jury found that Live Nation was operating a monopoly that harmed consumers and overcharged ticket buyers.
We’ll discuss where the case stands, what happens next, and whether there will ever be justice, including for the beleaguered Swifties, like me, who didn’t get tickets. If you’ve got questions for us, please leave them in the chat:
We’re in this together,
Joyce