Photo Credit: Dan Wall / Latham & Watkins
As the DOJ’s case against Live Nation gets ready to move forward, a top attorney at the concert giant calls the government’s case weak and unsubstantial.
Live Nation’s bid to convince a federal judge to toss the U.S. government’s antitrust lawsuit against the company didn’t quite pan out. But the judge did toss out some critical arguments by the Department of Justice, and Live Nation says those blows were fatal.
In a statement released on February 19th, the same day that Live Nation reported its Q4 2025 financials, the company’s EVP of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, Dan Wall, asserted that “it’s time to move on.”
“Cases in this posture nearly always settle, and with the prospect of structured relief off the table, that is what should happen in this case now,” the letter stated.
“Live Nation is ready to make that happen with DOJ and any State Attorney General committed to realistic, common-sense solutions to the remaining issues,” Wall wrote. “We understand that any settlement needs to be meaningful for our venue customers, for artists, and of course for fans. That is what we want, too.”
The statement follows U.S. District Judge Aran Subramanian’s ruling on Wednesday that trimmed some of the fat from the DOJ’s case. Among the claims dismissed were those alleging that Live Nation monopolized the concert promotion market. However, claims related to Ticketmaster’s weight in venue-facing ticketing—as well as Live Nation’s penchant for tying access to its venues to its promotion services—will still proceed to trial.
“The case is now about three things: long-term exclusive ticketing contracts, a discrete ticketing deal Ticketmaster has with Oakview Group, and Live Nation’s policy of not renting its amphitheaters to rival promoters,” Wall continued. “None of these claims, nor even all three taken together, warrants more than standard injunctive relief.”
Wall’s letter also pointed out that monopolization cases resulting in the breakup of a company are extremely rare, with the last one having happened in 1980 with AT&T. He also noted that the DOJ itself approved the Live Nation and Ticketmaster merger back in 2010, and at the time declared it would “benefit concertgoers, artists, and the industry as a whole.”
The DOJ and some three dozen U.S. state attorneys general, as well as the District of Columbia, filed the antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation in 2024. Jury selection is scheduled to begin on March 2. But even if Live Nation manages to get the DOJ to settle, the state attorneys general have vowed to continue their crusade against the live events company, with an ultimate goal in breaking up the Live Nation-Ticketmaster monopoly.
Meanwhile, Live Nation just posted another record year, though its surge in post-pandemic revenue has slowed to levels more befitting a dominant concert player operating in a mixed consumer economy.
