#Biden urged to probe Live Nation-Ticketmaster ‘monopoly’

Democrats in the US House of Representatives are urging the Biden administration to launch an investigation into the decade-old Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger, which they claim has created a “monopoly” over the market for live-event ticket sales.

Five members of Congress, including New York Rep. Jerry Nadler and New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. sent a letter Monday to US Attorney General Merrick Garland and Rebecca Slaughter, the acting chair of the Federal Trade Commission, urging the administration to probe the companies.

The bet, according to Beltway insiders, is that the Biden administration will take a tougher stance on antitrust concerns than the Obama administration did when it approved the tie-up.

“The evidence is overwhelming that the 2010 merger between the world’s largest concert promoter, Live Nation, and the biggest ticket provider, Ticketmaster, has strangled competition in live entertainment ticketing and harmed consumers and must be revisited,” said the letter, which was also signed by Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Il.) and Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI).

The Justice Department already has determined that Live Nation has flouted regulatory restrictions on its merger — which combined ticket, promotion, concert and management under a single roof — “by threatening venues and forcing the bundling of artists with ticketing services,” the letter claimed.

In 2019, Live Nation agreed to an extended consent decree with the DOJ that will extend another five and a half years beyond its original 2020 expiration. The consent decree bars it from prohibiting concert venues from using other ticketing companies and from threatening to withhold concerts.

Nevertheless, the letter said that Live Nation “holds more than 80 percent of the venue ticket sales market,” which the members of Congress called an “unfair” and “deceptive” practice in the industry.

Lawmakers add that the Los Angeles-based promoter has cornered the ticket reselling market through the creation of “SafeTix.” Marketed as a tool to “fight” ticket fraud, the service has been used to “ensure that tickets can only be resold within that system,” deeming tickets bought from other reselling platforms invalid.

“Media reports tell of patrons who purchased tickets on a competing resale platform being literally left out in the street while the show went on without them. If true, these reports may support claims of unfair and deceptive practices by LNE [Live Nation Entertainment],” the letter said.

As the pandemic winds down and more people are being vaccinated, the resumption of live events, such as concerts and sports events is quickly becoming a reality. The reps noted that Ticketmaster plans to require customers entering a venue to have an account with Ticketmaster for public health reasons, such as contact tracing or proof of vaccination. But the letter said that this would exacerbate the situation, by eliminating ticket transfer, furthering Live Nation’s grip over the ticketing industry.

“While local governments should work with local venues to ensure common-sense public health protections for fans, such as mask-wearing and social distancing, we cannot allow Ticketmaster to leverage the pandemic to choke off competition by
eliminating ticket transfer,” the letter concluded.

Live Nation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.