{"id":109946,"date":"2026-04-17T11:30:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T14:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/the-live-nation-verdict-is-a-faceplant-for-the-trump-administration\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T11:30:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T14:30:49","slug":"the-live-nation-verdict-is-a-faceplant-for-the-trump-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/the-live-nation-verdict-is-a-faceplant-for-the-trump-administration\/","title":{"rendered":"The Live Nation verdict is a faceplant for the Trump administration"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A federal jury in New York found Wednesday that Live Nation, the corporate parent of Ticketmaster, maintained an illegal monopoly over entertainment venue ticket sales. The verdict is a major victory for concertgoers, artists, independent venues and the coalition of over 30 states that pursued the case against the entertainment giant, not to mention the overall cause of making American life more affordable. And, just as significantly, it\u2019s a huge faceplant for the Trump administration, which, only days into this same trial, reached a surprise settlement with the entertainment behemoth.<\/p>\n

After the Trump administration announced the settlement, some pundits quickly predicted the case would likely end with a whimper<\/a>. The states, they said, would face an uphill battle in suddenly taking over the lead role from the federal government and effectively prosecuting the entertainment behemoth on such short notice.<\/p>\n

What these naysayers failed to consider was the egregious facts of the case \u2014 and how tired Americans are of being beaten up by big business.<\/p>\n

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Live Nation executives actually boasted in writing<\/em> about ripping off customers. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Entertainment colossus Live Nation is the product of a series of acquisitions going back to the 1990s. As a condition for federal approval of its 2010 corporate marriage with Ticketmaster, Live Nation agreed not to engage in several anticompetitive practices, such as refusing to book artists it managed at venues that did not use Ticketmaster\u2019s ticketing services.<\/p>\n

Live Nation didn\u2019t just fail to live up to its promise. It repeatedly, blatantly violated the agreement. The states argued employees of the newly combined company, which controls an astonishing 86% of the concert<\/a> ticket market and almost three-quarters of the overall event ticketing market, began threatening venues with retaliation unless they used Ticketmaster<\/a>. Live Nation executives actually boasted in writing<\/em> about ripping off customers. One employee, who is now a ticketing executive, joked that an increase in parking fees for customers was \u201crobbing them blind<\/a> baby. That\u2019s how we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

But parking is just one of the fees the company forced customers to pay. There are processing fees, service fees, venue fees and convenience fees \u2014 so many junk fees that they can increase the cost of a ticket by more than half<\/a> its initial price. In Europe, where multiple competitors can sell tickets for the same event at the same venue, these additional surcharges are \u2014 surprise! \u2014 significantly lower than what we pay in the United States.<\/p>\n

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