
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has joined 29 other states and the U.S. Department of Justice to file a civil antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment Inc.
In a news release issued Thursday, Raoul alleges in the lawsuit Live Nation Entertainment Inc., and Ticketmaster has illegally monopolized the live entertainment industry.
The suit seeks to restore competition in the live concert industry, provide better choices at lower prices for fans and open venue doors for working musicians and other performance artists, the news release states.
“Live Nation’s anticompetitive business practices have led to higher costs and fewer choices for fans seeking live entertainment in Illinois,” said Raoul. “That’s why I am joining the U.S. Department of Justice and my fellow attorneys general in filing this complaint against Live Nation. I remain committed to combating monopolies that harm consumers and undercut innovation in Illinois and across the county.”
Live Nation operates several major concert venues in Illinois including the Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre in Tinley Park, Illinois, to smaller venues like House of Blues Chicago.
In 2022, Ticketmaster sales reached nearly $1.5 billion for Illinois, accounting for the vast majority of expenditures on live music entertainment, the release states.
The news release states Ticketmaster – a Virginia limited liability company with headquarters in Beverly Hills, California – sells concert tickets to fans when those tickets first go on sale and operates resale platforms that enable purchasers to resell those tickets.
The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York alleges Live Nation’s unlawful conduct has deprived music fans in the United States of ticketing innovation and forced them to use outdated technology while paying more for tickets than fans in other countries.
At the same time, Live Nation exercises its power over performers, venues, and independent promoters in ways that harm competition, the release states.
Live Nation also allegedly imposes barriers to competition that limit the entry and expansion of its rivals, the news release states.
“We allege that Live Nation relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exercise its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States at the cost of fans, artists, smaller promoters, and venue operators,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services. It is time to break up Live Nation.”
Raoul and the DOJ allege in the lawsuit that Live Nation engaged in a variety of tactics to eliminate competition and monopolize markets by locking out competition with exclusive contract, retaliates against potential entrants and threatens retaliation against venues that work with rivals.
The complaint also alleges Ticketmaster and Live Nation restricts artists access to venues through partnerships and exclusive agreements, and acquires competitors that are identified as threats to Ticketmaster.
Raoul joined the DOJ’s complaint as part of a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general that includes the attorneys general of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.