CCAGW Sends Letter to U.S. Senate Outlining Concerns With Live Nation - Ticketmaster Lawsuit
Letters to Officials
June 25, 2024
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator,
On behalf of the more than one million members and supporters of the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, I am writing to outline our concerns with the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) announced lawsuit against Live Nation - Ticketmaster.
The DOJ and 30 state and district attorneys general announced on May 23, 2024, that they were suing Live Nation - Ticketmaster for “monopolization and other unlawful conduct that thwarts competition in markets across the live entertainment industry.” Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “We allege that Live Nation relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States at the cost of fans, artists, smaller promoters, and venue operators. The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services. It is time to break up Live Nation - Ticketmaster.” The complaint includes accusations that Live Nation - Ticketmaster uses exclusionary tactics to lock in artists and performers to exclusive deals with their venues as well as other tactics to eliminate competition and monopolize markets.
The DOJ’s lawsuit will fail to enhance competition in the ticketing market and bring down prices for consumers. The fees that consumers pay for tickets are set by the artists and their business teams, not by Live Nation - Ticketmaster. And there is already a large and competitive ticket resale market where consumers can buy tickets without going through Ticketmaster on websites including Seatgeek, TickPick, and Stubhub.
The lawsuit fails to take into consideration the impact on ticket prices and demand that has occurred following the COVID-19 pandemic. According to data from Live Nation - Ticketmaster, 145 million people attended a concert or sporting event at a Live Nation venue in 2023, which is a 20 percent increase from the 98 million people who attended in 2019.
The ticket marketplace is already large and competitive and the DOJ’s lawsuit against Live Nation - Ticketmaster would be a waste of time and fall short of its goals of increasing competition and bringing down prices for consumers. Thank you for your consideration of our views.
Sincerely,
Tom Schatz
President, CCAGW
