Live Event Ticketing is Broken Because One Company Controls it All.
Live Nation/Ticketmaster controls an estimated 80% of primary ticket sales in the US and 84% of ticketing for NBA, NFL and NHL teams.
Top grossing arenas in US contract with Ticketmaster.
Live Nation/Ticketmaster manages over 380 artists worldwide.
Ticket prices are up over 140% since the Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger when accounting for inflation.
It Pays to Be A Monopoly
Live Nation/Ticketmaster continued to rake in the dough in 2023. From its latest earnings call:
- Revenues were up a whopping 36%, to $22.7 billion.
- Boasts 2023 was its “biggest year ever.”
Big plans to price out average fans:
“We’re getting 20%, 30% returns … when we turn that grassy area into a VIP club,” CEO Rapino said, adding more money could be made by focusing on “premium experiences.”
EVP claims innocence on prices while CEO brags about profits...
It's "easy to blame Ticketmaster for high ticket prices, but that's not true."
Dan Wall
Executive Vice President Live Nation/Ticketmaster
"...we expect all our businesses to continue growing ... with our profitability compounding by double-digits over the next several years."
Michael Rapino
President and CEO Live Nation/Ticketmaster
Monopoly Behaving Badly
Years of record earnings and bullying tactics by Live Nation/Ticketmaster haven’t gone unnoticed.
50 members of the U.S. House and 19 state AGs raise alarms about creating a live event monopoly.
DOJ finds that LNE/TM violated merger terms by pressuring venues into exclusive contracts.
DOJ launches ongoing investigation into potential violation of antitrust laws by LNE/TM and their anti-competitive behavior.
Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) says “Live Nation has egregiously stonewalled my Subcommittee’s inquiry into its abusive consumer practices – making the subpoena necessary.”
The US DOJ is joined by a bipartisan coalition of 40 attorneys general in lawsuit, alleging the monopoly’s anti-competitive behavior has hurt competition, leading to higher fees for consumers.