Ticketmaster mum or dad Reside Nation agrees to DOJ antitrust settlement

Reside Nation Leisure has reached a settlement with the Division of Justice over antitrust considerations surrounding its Ticketmaster platform, a senior DOJ official stated Monday.

The settlement would see Ticketmaster unwind a few of its exclusivity agreements with musical artists and open up the ticketing business to better competitors. It nonetheless wants approval by greater than 20 states that had filed swimsuit and by the courtroom.

As a part of the settlement, Ticketmaster will provide a standalone third-party ticketing system for different firms like SeatGeek to make use of its expertise. Reside Nation has additionally agreed to divest no less than 13 of its amphitheaters and can now not be capable of require artists to make use of different Reside Nation merchandise tied to its venues. It has additionally agreed to pay roughly $280 million in civil penalties.

Shares of Reside Nation rose 5% in morning buying and selling. Reside Nation and Ticketmaster didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.

Ticketmaster has lengthy confronted criticism that its dominance within the dwell occasions and ticketing house pushes up costs for customers. The corporate has come below heightened scrutiny in recent times from followers who argue that it is change into tougher and pricier to snag coveted occasion tickets.

In 2022, the backlash boiled over when the rollout of tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour was mishandled, resulting in a probe of the corporate. And in 2024, the DOJ — together with greater than two dozen states — sued to interrupt up Reside Nation and Ticketmaster, which merged in 2010.

In September, Reside Nation was individually sued by the Federal Commerce Fee over what the company referred to as “unlawful” ticket resale techniques. The FTC stated Ticketmaster controls roughly 80% of main live performance venues’ ticketing.

In a Monday assertion, New York Lawyer Common Letitia James stated her workplace would proceed to struggle in opposition to Reside Nation’s alleged monopoly even after its settlement with the DOJ.

“The settlement not too long ago introduced with the U.S. Division of Justice fails to handle the monopoly on the heart of this case, and would profit Reside Nation on the expense of customers. We can’t comply with it,” stated James, who’s joined by the attorneys common of greater than 20 different states.