Live Nation and Ticketmaster Ask Court to Throw Out Monopoly Verdict

Live Nation and Ticketmaster are scrambling to undo the massive blow they took in court back in April. The live music giants filed reply briefs in a New York federal court on July 2, making their final pitch to US District Judge Arun Subramanian to completely throw out the jury verdict that labeled them an illegal monopoly. If the judge won't override the jury entirely, the companies want him to scrap the whole thing and grant a brand-new trial. According to the filings, the corporate giants claim the state attorneys won the case using "made-for-juries emotional arguments" instead of actual law. They are particularly mad that jurors heard testimony about parking fees, lawn-chair rentals, European ticketing, and an internal Live Nation document containing the phrase "robbing them blind baby." The April 15 verdict concluded a five-week trial where a jury decided the companies illegally monopolized primary ticketing at major US venues and overcharged fans by $1.72 per ticket between May 2020 and 2024. While the DOJ settled with Live Nation early in the trial to let them keep Ticketmaster, a coalition of 33 states and the District of Columbia pushed the fight to the finish. Those same states are currently pushing for a remedy that would force Live Nation to sell off Ticketmaster and give up some of its amphitheaters. This fight is far from over.