Live Nation Entertainment Inc. is requesting that the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit, which challenges its merger with Ticketmaster, be moved from a New York federal court to Washington, D.C. The company contends that the D.C. court is the appropriate venue to address issues related to the 2010 consent decree that allowed the merger under specific conditions.
In a brief filed on July 19, Live Nation described the DOJ’s lawsuit in the Southern District of New York as a “blatant attempt” to undermine the consent decree. This decree, established by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, designates that court as the appropriate forum for any modifications or assessments related to it. Live Nation argues that the D.C. court should assess both the decree and the DOJ’s new claims of monopolistic practices by Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
“There is a clear connection between the plaintiffs’ allegations that these practices harm competition and the question of whether the decree has successfully achieved its intended purpose of protecting competition in the live events industry,” Live Nation stated in their brief, according to Bloomberg.
The DOJ, joined by nearly 30 states, filed the lawsuit in May, accusing Live Nation and Ticketmaster of creating an illegal monopoly that suppresses competition in the live events industry, resulting in higher fees for consumers due to a lack of alternatives. The DOJ argues that the original consent decree, which required the divestment of certain ticketing assets, addressed different issues than those currently being raised. The department asserts that the decree “failed to prevent Live Nation and Ticketmaster from violating other antitrust laws in increasingly severe ways.”
The Justice Department claims that Live Nation controls over 265 concert venues in North America and generates more than $22 billion annually from concerts, ticketing, and sponsorship and advertising.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster have dismissed the DOJ’s allegations as “baseless,” arguing that the DOJ’s complaint is based on claims about harms supposedly resulting from the merger and the decree.
