Live Nation and Ticketmaster Operate as an Illegal Monopoly, Jury Finds in Landmark Antitrust Trial

After the Justice Department cut a mid-trial deal that let Live Nation keep Ticketmaster, 34 holdout states kept pressing. On Wednesday, a Manhattan jury handed them a major win that could reopen the door to far more aggressive remedies.

A Manhattan federal jury on Wednesday found Live Nation and Ticketmaster liable for illegally maintaining monopoly power in the live events and ticketing business, handing the remaining state plaintiffs a landmark victory after a trial that stretched roughly six weeks and a deliberation process that lasted four days.

“In the face of dwindling antitrust enforcement by the Trump administration, this verdict shows just how far states can go to protect our residents from big corporations that are using their power to illegally raise prices and rip off Americans,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, said in a statement. “We are incredibly proud of today’s outcome — and especially proud of our coalition made up of red and blue states alike who understood we needed to come together to protect our consumers, businesses, and state economies from Live Nation’s illegal conduct.”

The verdict form (embedded below) underscores just how complete the loss was for Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

Rather than delivering a mixed or narrowly tailored outcome, the jury answered “yes” across every major liability question it was asked to decide, embracing the states’ remaining case from top to bottom. Jurors found for plaintiffs on both primary-ticketing monopolization theories, found that Live Nation controlled or encouraged Ticketmaster’s conduct in those markets, found monopolization in the market for use of large amphitheaters by artists, and found unlawful tying as well. They then found unlawful harm to competition across the full list of plaintiff jurisdictions presented on the form, awarded the same $1.72 per-ticket overcharge across the 22 states that reached the damages question, and returned plaintiff-side findings on each of the state-law claims submitted.

While the actual penalties will not be known for some time, the ramifications for the industry are enormous.

The Justice Department settled with Live Nation one week into trial, allowing the company to keep Ticketmaster while agreeing to a package of behavioral remedies that included divesting 13 exclusive amphitheater booking agreements, giving venues both exclusive and non-exclusive ticketing proposals, allowing a share of amphitheater ticket inventory to flow through other marketplaces, and capping service fees at 15% at those venues. But the majority of states refused to go along, arguing the deal did not go nearly far enough.

Wednesday’s verdict is a major vindication of that decision. After taking over, the states framed the case as a story of a company using its control over ticketing, venues, and routing power to protect itself from real competition. In closing arguments, they said Ticketmaster controlled 86% of the concert market and 73% when sports venues were included, and argued that Live Nation kept building a “moat around the monopoly castle” through long-term exclusives, venue leverage, and the threat of withholding concerts from venues that switched ticketers.

Live Nation, by contrast, spent the trial insisting it was being punished for scale rather than illegal conduct. The company argued that artists, teams, and venues make the ultimate decisions, that the live-events business remains highly competitive, and that its size reflects execution rather than coercion. Defense lawyer David Marriott summed that position up bluntly in closing: “Success is not against the antitrust laws.”

Many have disagreed with that self-assessment for years, and have quickly commented on the jury’s decision on Wednesday.

“Today’s verdict confirms what millions of fans already knew: Live Nation and Ticketmaster used their dominance to build and protect an illegal monopoly at the direct expense of consumers,” said John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud at the National Consumers League. “For years, concertgoers have been stuck paying inflated prices and excessive fees in a marketplace where competition was pushed aside. This ruling must be a turning point—and policymakers should move quickly to break up this stranglehold and restore real competition, transparency, and fair prices for fans.”

Senator Amy Klobuchar also celebrated the verdict with a statement posted to X just hours after she and other senators had formally requested that the court review the DOJ settlement agreement on Tunney Act grounds. “FINALLY. A jury says the truth about what nearly everyone in Washington keeps denying,” she wrote. “Now we need remedies that help fans & lower prices, unlike DOJ meaningless “settlement.”

“It’s official: a jury found that Live Nation/Ticketmaster is a monopoly,” write Jonathan Kanter, who led the Antitrust branch of the DOJ during the Biden administration and oversaw the filing of the lawsuit in 2024. “I am so proud to have filed this case [in] 2024. This may be the most popular antitrust case ever. Kudos to the State AGs for finishing the job. The rule of law is alive and well.”

“For years, Ticketmaster/Live Nation has abused its power against musicians, fans, and venues, dominating the live music industry while worsening it for everyone else,” former FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a post on X. “The jury verdict holding that the company violated state and federal antitrust laws is a key first step towards ending Live Nation’s monopolistic control and securing real relief for those it harmed.”

What Comes Next for Live Nation After This Verdict?

Next comes a remedies phase before Judge Arun Subramanian, who will decide what consequences should follow the jury’s finding that Live Nation and Ticketmaster illegally maintained monopoly power. That phase could range from additional conduct restrictions layered on top of the DOJ’s earlier settlement — including venue-choice rules, fee limits, and ticketing access requirements — to far more aggressive structural relief if the holdout states persuade the court that narrower fixes will not restore real competition.

The financial stakes are also still coming into view. Jurors found that Ticketmaster overcharged consumers by $1.72 per ticket, a finding that AP said covered 22 states and could translate into a damages award worth hundreds of millions of dollars depending on how the court calculates the final total. And because the states rejected the DOJ’s mid-trial deal as too lenient, they are likely to use this next phase to press for remedies that go well beyond behavioral guardrails and directly target the company’s integrated control over promotion, venues, and ticketing.

Whatever remedy the court ultimately orders, Live Nation is expected to fight it. The company can pursue post-trial motions and then appeal, meaning Wednesday’s verdict is more likely the end of the first major chapter than the end of the case itself. The next battle will determine whether this ruling produces modest compliance changes or a more sweeping rewrite of how the concert business operates.

Live Nation Verdict Sheet

Recent USA vs. Live Nation Entertainment Trial Coverage from TicketNews

– 4/15: Dem. Senators Urge Strong Tunney Act Review of DOJ/Live Nation Settlement – 4/14: Verdict Watch Continues as Jury Deliberates in Live Nation Trial – 4/10: States Say LN Built ‘Moat Around the Castle’ in Closing Arguments – 4/9: Live Nation Mounts One Final Push to Kill Antitrust Case Before Jury Takes Over – 4/8: Antitrust Case Narrows as Plaintiffs Drop Standalone Exclusive-Dealing Claim – 4/7: Sanctions Fight Opens New Front in Live Nation-AEG War Over Concert Ticketing – 4/7: Trial nears endgame as states fight 50(a) motion, defend expert testimony – Earlier: Sanctions Sought After Unsealed AEG Email Raises New Questions in Antitrust Trial – Live Nation Seeks Pre‑Verdict 50(a) Win as Judge Orders More Trial Records Unsealed – Defense Continues Blame Shift, Seeks to Eliminate Prosecution Expert Testimony – Live Nation Leans on ‘Better Product’ Defense as States Press Vertical‑Integration Case – States Say Verified Fan Just a Sales Pitch; OVG Testifies to Undisclosed “Advocate” Payments – DOJ Defends its Settlement of Live Nation Case as “Blueprint” – Judge Demands DOJ/LN Settlement Details be Made Public, Promptly – Trump Personally Pressed for Settlement, Met With Rapino March 5 – After Rapino Fireworks, States Re-center Live Nation Trial on its Use of Leverage – States Put Live Nation’s Rapino at Center of Ticketmaster Strategy – Tech, Venue Leverage, and What Jurors May Not Hear Ahead of Rapino Testimony – Live Nation Trial Presses Fees, Conditioning, and Consent-Decree Questions – Trial Resumes; States Press Amphitheater Case, Judge Presses Tunney Compliance