Photo Credit: Denise Jans
Live Nation has settled with the Justice Department, but more than 25 states have disclosed plans to continue litigating against the Ticketmaster parent.
Several of those states’ attorneys general confirmed as much today, shortly after Live Nation and the DOJ reached a trial-ending agreement. As we broke down, said agreement contains significant concessions – the promoter will offload multiple amphitheaters and open Ticketmaster to competitors, to name a couple – that will take some time to materialize.
Rather than awaiting the changes, nearly 30 states are doubling down with plans to keep on seeking relief. Admittedly, this doesn’t quite come as a surprise; lawmakers and officials on both sides of the aisle were decidedly vocal in criticizing Live Nation ahead of the trial.
Nevertheless, the number of states on board with the action – 27 plus Washington, D.C., according to a post-settlement release from NY AG Letitia James – is telling. While the list of plaintiffs has shrunk from 40 in the DOJ action, it still includes California, Colorado, North Carolina, Utah, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wyoming.
Furthermore, as when they were parties to the DOJ suit, the states are eyeing damages – specifically for alleged heightened-price consumer harm stemming from Live Nation/Ticketmaster’s allegedly anticompetitive practices.
It will, of course, be worth tracking the above-highlighted concessions as well as the states’ suit. Then there’s the FTC’s BOTS Act-centered complaint against Live Nation for allegedly allowing the sale of ill-gotten tickets (those allegedly obtained with bots, that is) through Ticketmaster.
Like with the newly resolved case, the FTC action has drawn bipartisan participation from states and clear-cut support from federal lawmakers to boot.
This support aside, where does the six-month-old action stand? Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong last month finalized a tentative ruling on Live Nation’s dismissal motion – albeit without publicly disclosing said ruling and while holding a related oral argument.
At present, neither the tentative ruling nor the argument’s transcript has become publicly available. Members of the media have put in requests for said transcript, however, and the litigants have until the 16th to request redactions ahead of a wider May 26th release.
Closing with a quick look at the broader reaction to the DOJ settlement, the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) voiced disapproval of the reported terms, and the National Consumers League echoed many of the same concerns.
