Getty Image / Michael Campanella
I’m sure all of us have been incredibly frustrated with the experience of buying tickets online lately, whether for a sporting event or a concert. It seems to have been worse than ever before, with many people blaming the company Live Nation, which owns ticketing giant Ticketmaster.
Frustration reached a high point last year as Taylor Swift fans struggled to get tickets to her record-setting Eras Tour prior to its domestic leg that took up much of last year. That led to an outcry that made politicians take action.
Now, the Justice Department is ready to sue Live Nation/TicketMaster for what they contend is an illegal monopoly that has far too much influence over the concert industry, according to the New York Times.
Several states are expected to sign on to the lawsuit, as well, which could be filed as soon as Thursday.
According to the New York Times, here is the crux of the Justice Department’s argument.
The government plans to argue in a lawsuit that Live Nation shored up its power through Ticketmaster’s exclusive ticketing contracts with concert venues, as well as the company’s dominance over concert tours and other businesses like venue management, said two of the people, who declined to be named because the lawsuit was still private. That helped the company maintain a monopoly, raising prices and fees for consumers, limiting innovation in the ticket industry and hurting competition, the people said.
The government will argue that tours promoted by the company were more likely to play venues where Ticketmaster was the exclusive ticket service, one of the people said, and that Live Nation’s artists played venues that it owns.
If you’re unfamiliar with Live Nation, they control many of the nation’s top music venues and decide who can play where, essentially. It’s a little more complicated than that, but that’s the gist. And, Live Nation bought TicketMaster back in 2009. So, the same company controls where the acts play and the ticketing process. Seems bad for the consumer!
The Justice sure thinks so, which is why they’re stepping in here. If the Justice Department prevails, it could make ticketing for sporting events and concerts much better for fans like you and I.