The Department of Justice and Live Nation have reached a settlement agreement in their antitrust case, multiple people familiar with the matter have confirmed.
The DOJ has announced the settlement that involves multiple states. Seat Geek and StubHub will also be involved. There will be 13 amphitheaters divested from Live Nation. The company may no longer tie amphitheaters and require artists to utilize other parts of the business. Ticketmaster must offer to allow venues to strike a non-exclusive agreement.
Fox News Digital reached out to Live Nation Entertainment, Ticketmaster, and the DOJ for comment on Monday morning.
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In 2024, the President Joe Biden-era DOJ and many state attorneys general targeted Live Nation Entertainment Inc., and its subsidiary Ticketmaster LLC, in a civil antitrust suit.
“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,” then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said, according to a 2024 DOJ press release.
“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,” Garland said, according to the release.
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Politico reported that the agreement requires Live Nation to shell out around $200 million in damages to participating states.
The settlement involves requiring Ticketmaster to open portions of its platform to competing ticketing companies, permitting third-party sellers like Eventbrite or SeatGeek to list tickets via Ticketmaster’s technology, according to the outlet.
The settlement slaps new limits on exclusivity contracts, slashing agreements to four years and letting venues allocate some of their tickets to competing platforms, the outlet reported.
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The company will be required to divest over 10 amphitheaters and will have to cap service fees at its amphitheaters at 15 percent of ticket price, according to Politico.
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