Ten additional states have joined a lawsuit led by Tennessee and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) against Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., which owns Ticketmaster. The lawsuit alleges that the company has “illegally monopolized the live entertainment industry.”
In May, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and the DOJ filed an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation, alleging that the company holds venues “hostage” through “restrictive long-term, exclusive agreements and threats,” “forces artists to select Live Nation as a promoter instead of its rivals” through leverage of its extensive network of amphitheaters, and “harms” fans through “higher fees, lack of transparency, fewer consumer choices, and stifling innovation.”
Case Update ‼️
Today, TN & the USDOJ welcomed ten additional states to our historic, bipartisan antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation/Ticketmaster — bringing the total number of co-plaintiffs to 41.
Read the amended complaint below:
➡️https://t.co/vLjKEir8cx pic.twitter.com/wadEQnVSha
— TN Attorney General (@AGTennessee) August 19, 2024
The lawsuit, filed in a U.S. District Court in New York, was originally joined by 28 other states and the District of Columbia.
Ten more states have signed on to the lawsuit, bringing the total number of plaintiffs in the case to 41.
With the additional states signing onto the lawsuit as plaintiffs, Tennessee and the DOJ filed an amended 167-page complaint alleging new details of anticompetitive conduct from Live Nation.
“The ticketing industry has been broken for decades by Ticketmaster’s exploitative monopoly, harming both consumers and the talented people across Tennessee who work hard to provide live music experiences,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement.
“We welcome these ten additional AGs and look forward to making our case. I am grateful for our ongoing partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division in this great bipartisan effort, coming on the heels of our historic win against Google’s search monopoly,” Skrmetti added.
Skrmetti’s office reports that Live Nation controls two of the “most important” parts of the Volunteer State’s live entertainment industry: ticketing and tours.
“They are the dominant ticketer and content provider to concert venues in Tennessee. Between 2019 and 2022, Tennesseans spent over $765 million on Ticketmaster tickets,” Skrmetti’s office said.
Skrmetti’s legal challenge against Live Nation comes nearly two years after the attorney general first began investigating the company after his office began receiving complaints that Ticketmaster suspended ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” after the site experienced an array of problems during its previous ticket presale event.
Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation told The Tennessee Star in an emailed statement, “There is nothing new in the Amended Complaint – the lawsuit still won’t solve the issues fans care about relating to ticket prices, service fees, and access to in-demand shows. We look forward to sharing more facts as the case progresses.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Editor’s note: This report has been updated to include a statement by Live Nation.
