From left: Anna Mason, Emily Lind and Kristen Robinson show their Ticketmaster queue from the parking lot outside of the Taylor Swift concert in Philadelphia on May 13, 2023.The U.S. Justice Department and a group of states will sue Live Nation Entertainment Inc. for antitrust violations related to Ticketmaster’s unrivaled control of concert ticket sales, according to people familiar with the case.
The Justice Department declined to comment. Live Nation didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Live Nation, the biggest U.S. concert promoter, merged with ticketing giant Ticketmaster in 2010. President Barack Obama’s Justice Department reviewed the transaction and allowed it to move forward as part of a settlement in which the company promised it wouldn’t retaliate against concert venues that opted against using Ticketmaster.