Live Nation Seeks Delay for DOJ Monopoly Trial

Live Nation is looking to delay its impending monopoly trial against the Department of Justice, according to documents the company filed on Sunday. The ticketing giant is arguing that the trial shouldn’t start until appeals it has filed over Feb. 18’s ruling to proceed with the trial are resolved.

Live Nation filed a motion for an Interlocutory appeal on Sunday looking to reverse some of the initial rulings from last week’s hearing, which the company argues would “dramatically change and substantially narrow the upcoming jury trial.”

Specifically, Live Nation is appealing regarding the court’s decision that the Justice Department and state plaintiffs “do not need evidence of actual price discrimination to prove their alleged targeted customer markets in this actual monopolization case.” The company is also seeking to address that the plaintiffs “can proceed with a tying claim without a properly defined market for the tied
product.”

“If either or both legal questions were decided the other way, the nature and scope of the
upcoming trial would fundamentally change: Of the three sets of claims this Court identified as
proceeding to trial after summary judgment, the first two would be effectively eliminated,” Live Nation said. “The Court should not empanel a jury to try a complex, month-long case when that trial (at least as
currently envisioned) may well prove wholly unnecessary.”

Live Nation concluded the court should “stay proceedings in this matter pending resolution of the appeal.”

Live Nation’s motion comes a bit over a week before the trial is set to begin on March 2. Last week, the court dismissed Live Nation’s motion to dismiss the case outright, though Live Nation did manage to narrow the case as Judge Arun Subramanian decided to dismiss some claims that Live Nation monopolizes promotion and bookings.

The DOJ first filed its much anticipated suit against Live Nation in 2024, calling to break up the eponymous concert promotion giant and Ticketmaster, the industry’s largest primary ticket provider, which would undo a merger the Justice Department itself had allowed over a decade ago. The DOJ argued that Live Nation uses its vertically-integrated business to crush competitors, further claiming that rival venue management business Oak View Group helped coerce venues into signing deals with Ticketmaster. Live Nation has consistently denied the allegations.

The case’s status has been a subject of significant conversation in the industry in recent weeks after assistant attorney general Gail Slater stepped down from her post earlier this month following reports that Live Nation had been negotiating settlement talks with other Trump political allies. Slater tweeted a congratulatory message to the DOJ last week after the court’s ruling kept the case alive.

The motion could also help Live Nation buy more time if it is still looking to reach a settlement. Even if the federal case ends in a settlement, the company would still have to face the case from the individual states. For now, the federal suit is still on the docket to go to trial.