Hours after the federal Justice Department settled a suit against a concert venue company accused of establishing a monopoly in the live entertainment business, New Jersey announced it would seek to continue the lawsuit with other states in federal court.
The Department of Justice announced a settlement with the entertainment firm Live Nation that required the company to change ticketing deals, divest itself from 13 amphitheaters, and pay a $280 million fine, among other terms. But in a statement Monday afternoon, state Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said the state would seek to continue the suit and obtain “appropriate relief” for Live Nation’s business practices.
In a motion filed on Monday, New Jersey and 25 other states argued that, regardless of the settlement, they would like to remain plaintiffs and proceed with the trial, which started last week (some states are joining the DOJ’s settlement).
“The case against Live Nation is strong, and the state coalition is committed to holding the company accountable for its illegal behavior, protecting consumers, and restoring competition to this market,” Davenport said. “The settlement recently announced does not adequately remedy the harms to the marketplace for live music and to concertgoers caused by Live Nation.”
Dozens of states joined the Biden administration in suing Live Nation in 2024, alleging the group has established an illegal monopoly through its ownership of concert venues and control of Ticketmaster.
“In May 2024, a bipartisan group of state attorneys general joined the U.S. Department of Justice to sue Live Nation for monopolizing the market for ticketing and using its monopoly power in the concert venue market to reinforce and protect that monopoly,” Davenport said. “For too long, Live Nation has raked in billions from a monopoly that has made it harder for consumers to see the artists they love, stifled artists, and increased the price of tickets for countless music fans.”
In a filing, the states wrote that the sudden settlement caught them by surprise, and that they think the timing of the settlement suggests it was “engineered and timed to inflict maximum prejudice” to the states’ case. The states continuing the suit have asked for a mistrial, arguing that the DOJ’s sudden disappearance harms the states’ ability to complete the trial and biases the jury.
“[The] United States is not handing off a baton to finish a race; it is leaving a project halfway through construction, while taking the lead crew members, supplies, and designs with it,” the states wrote in the filing. “Whether deliberate or not, the secrecy and timing of Defendants’ settlement with the United States maximizes their advantages at trial while severely undercutting the Proceeding Plaintiff States’ ability to present their case.”
The initial lawsuit against Live Nation accused the company of using threats and illegal business practices to “suffocate the competition.” The states seeking to continue the trial say the settlement fails to address the company’s business practices.