DOJ Says Live Nation Broke Promises And Extends Consent Decree

Live Nation “broke the promises they made to the court and to the American People” in 2010 following the company’s merger with Ticketmaster, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday, January 28.

The comments, made by Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, came as the court entered an Amended Final Judgment extending the consent decree with Live Nation/Ticketmaster by five and a half years.

That consent decree, an antitrust agreement made in 2010, allowed Live Nation to merge with Ticketmaster and included safeguards to prevent anti-competitive behavior in the years following the merger.

It prohibited Live Nation from doing things such as “retaliating” against concert venues for using other ticketing firms, or threatening venues. It was supposed to end this year.

But according to the DOJ, Live Nation “repeatedly” broke the agreement and engaged in conduct that violated the judgment made in 2010.

In December, we reported that the DOJ was “preparing legal action” against Live Nation. The DOJ’s Antitrust Division filed a petition in December asking the court to modify and extend the consent decree, “to put a stop to this conduct and to remove any doubt about defendants’ obligations under the Final Judgment going forward.”