The US states that successfully sued Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary for breaches of US competition law have submitted their sanctions wishlist to the judge overseeing the case. They insist that the judge should now order Live Nation to sell off Ticketmaster and a bunch of its amphitheater venues to bring to an end the live music giant’s unlawful, and surely unfair and unscrupulous, monopoly.
According to US Supreme Court precedent, they tell Judge Arun Subramanian, if a jury decides that a company is operating an illegal monopoly, the court must “prescribe relief which will terminate the illegal monopoly, deny to the defendant the fruits of its statutory violation, and ensure that there remain no practices likely to result in monopolisation in the future”. And that means divestment.
Needless to say, Live Nation does not agree. Although it is yet to formally respond to the sanctions wishlist, the company’s EVP Of Corporate & Regulatory Affairs, Dan Wall, says that - while the jury ruled against Live Nation - their verdict “cannot support a request for divesting Ticketmaster”. The states’ request that that happen, therefore, is simply “performative and political”.
Selling off Ticketmaster is the first request on the wishlist filed with the court by chief legal officers from the 33 US states that pursued the antitrust legal action against Live Nation.
Subramanian, they say, should issue an order “requiring Live Nation to divest Ticketmaster”. They then add that the states are currently “evaluating the scope of assets, contracts, personnel and systems that would be necessary for a standalone Ticketmaster to effectively compete in the market for primary ticketing services to major concert venues”.
For the forced Ticketmaster sell-off to successfully address the monopoly issues, the states add, Subramanian should also put restrictions on Live Nation buying any other primary ticketing companies. And also ban Live Nation from ever putting obligations around ticketing providers into the deals it signs with venues where it presents concerts and tours it is promoting.
When it comes to Live Nation’s network of amphitheaters - part of the US venues sector where the company is particularly dominant - the judge should order that a “sufficient number” of those venues be sold. And Live Nation should be forced to reduce the number of amphitheaters it operates on behalf of other venue owners.
In addition to all that divestment, the states also want Live Nation to be forced to pay damages “for overcharges on ticketing fees”, that would presumably go to the ticket-buyers. Plus additional financial penalties “sufficient to serve the intended purposes of each state’s civil penalties statute, including, where appropriate, to punish the violations found and deter future violations”.
We now await Live Nation’s full formal response to this sanctions wishlist. It’s thought a decision on what sanctions and penalties Live Nation should face will not be finalised until next year.