Trial that could lead to the breakup of Ticketmaster's parent company
gets underway
[March 04, 2026] By
LARRY NEUMEISTER
NEW YORK (AP) — A high-stakes antitrust trial that could lead to the
possible breakup of Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, got
underway Tuesday in a case over whether the entertainment giant’s
dominance of the concert industry amounts to an illegal monopoly.
In opening statements, a U.S. Justice Department lawyer pointed to the
company's infamously problem-plagued effort to sell Taylor Swift tickets
in 2022 as he implored the Manhattan federal jury to end the company's
hold on the market and reward artists and consumers with a competitive
marketplace that will leave them with more money.
“This case is about power, the power of a monopolist to control
competition,” said the attorney, David Dahlquist. “Today, the concert
ticket industry is broken.”
David Marriott, arguing on behalf of the companies, disputed the
government's claims.
“We'll let the numbers do the talking,” he said. “We do not have
monopoly power.”
Judge Arun Subramanian has told jurors that evidence will be presented
over the next six weeks before they'll be left to decide whether Live
Nation and Ticketmaster broke antitrust laws.
The trial stems from a lawsuit filed in 2024 that alleged the companies
have dominated the industry by suffocating competitors and controlling
everything from concert promotion to ticketing.
Ticketmaster, which was established in 1976 and merged with Live Nation
in 2010, is the world’s largest ticket seller across live music, sports,
theater and more.
Dahlquist noted that the ticket seller sparked outrage in November 2022
when its site crashed during a presale event for Swift's Eras Tour.
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The Ticketmaster logo is seen along the sideline of the field before
an NFL football game, Sept. 15, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP
Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
 The company said the site was
overwhelmed by both fans and attacks from bots, which were posing as
consumers to scoop up tickets and sell them on secondary sites. The
debacle prompted congressional hearings and bills in state
legislatures aimed at better protecting consumers.
Dahlquist said Live Nation’s anti-competitive practices include
using long-term contracts ranging from five to seven years to keep
venues from choosing rivals and blocking venues from using multiple
ticket sellers.
Ticketmaster’s clashes with artists and fans date back three
decades. Pearl Jam took aim at the company in 1994, years before the
Live Nation merger, although the Justice Department ultimately
declined to bring a case.
Live Nation has maintained that artists and teams set prices and
decide how tickets are sold.
Marriott said Live Nation was the world's biggest supporter of
musical artists, enabling 159 million people in 2025 to see 11,000
artists at 55,000 concerts.
He said the government has exaggerated how much the companies make,
including by saying Ticketmaster pockets $7 a ticket, when it
actually gets $5 and clears less than $2 after expenses.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster, he said, “are all about bringing joy
to people's lives.”
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