NEW YORK — A pivotal antitrust trial commenced on Tuesday, challenging the dominance of Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, in the concert industry. The case could potentially lead to the breakup of the entertainment powerhouse if it is determined that its control constitutes an illegal monopoly.
During opening statements, a lawyer from the U.S. Justice Department highlighted the chaotic issues surrounding the sale of Taylor Swift concert tickets in 2022. He urged the federal jury in Manhattan to dismantle the company’s grip on the market, aiming to foster a competitive landscape that benefits both artists and consumers financially.
“This case is about power, the power of a monopolist to control competition,” stated attorney David Dahlquist. “The concert ticket industry is currently broken.”
In response, David Marriott, representing Live Nation and Ticketmaster, contested the government’s allegations.
“We’ll let the numbers do the talking,” he asserted. “We do not have monopoly power.”
Judge Arun Subramanian informed the jury that over the course of the next six weeks, they will be presented with evidence before making a decision on whether Live Nation and Ticketmaster have violated antitrust laws.
The trial stems from a lawsuit filed in 2024 that alleged the companies have dominated the industry by suffocating competitors and controlling everything from concert promotion to ticketing.
Ticketmaster, which was established in 1976 and merged with Live Nation in 2010, is the world’s largest ticket seller across live music, sports, theater and more.
Dahlquist noted that the ticket seller sparked outrage in November 2022 when its site crashed during a presale event for Swift’s Eras Tour.
The company said the site was overwhelmed by both fans and attacks from bots, which were posing as consumers to scoop up tickets and sell them on secondary sites. The debacle prompted congressional hearings and bills in state legislatures aimed at better protecting consumers.
Dahlquist said Live Nation’s anti-competitive practices include using long-term contracts ranging from five to seven years to keep venues from choosing rivals and blocking venues from using multiple ticket sellers.
Ticketmaster’s clashes with artists and fans date back three decades. Pearl Jam took aim at the company in 1994, years before the Live Nation merger, although the Justice Department ultimately declined to bring a case.
Live Nation has maintained that artists and teams set prices and decide how tickets are sold.
Marriott said Live Nation was the world’s biggest supporter of musical artists, enabling 159 million people in 2025 to see 11,000 artists at 55,000 concerts.
He said the government has exaggerated how much the companies make, including by saying Ticketmaster pockets $7 a ticket, when it actually gets $5 and clears less than $2 after expenses.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster, he said, “are all about bringing joy to people’s lives.”
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