A federal jury found Wednesday that Live Nation has been operating as an illegal monopoly — a verdict that could lead to the breakup of the entertainment giant and its ticketing subsidiary, Ticketmaster, and bring relief to concertgoers who are sick of dynamic pricing and inexplicable service fees.
The ruling came as internal Slack messages surfaced during the trial showing Live Nation employees joking about taking advantage of customers — including one conversation about parking prices that prosecutors argued revealed the company’s true attitude toward its customers.
The verdict is the latest development in a web of litigation that began when the Department of Justice and 40 state attorneys general sued Live Nation in 2024 for alleged monopolistic practices. The two companies had merged in 2010 to form an entertainment giant that came to control the majority of ticket sales and venue bookings in the country, which made it more difficult for other companies to compete, according to the lawsuit. Without meaningful competition, customers had no choice but to accept Live Nation’s dubious pricing models, which critics say benefit the company’s bottom line, rather than artists.
Last month, the DOJ tentatively settled with Live Nation, while a separate state-level trial was already underway. But 34 of the attorneys general pressed forward — and on Wednesday, the jury delivered its verdict.
During the widely followed trial, the Slack messages surfaced between two Live Nation employees: Ben Baker, now head of ticketing for Venue Nation, and Jeff Weinhold, now a senior director in the ticketing department.
“These people are so stupid,” Baker said in a conversation about raising prices on parking. “I almost feel bad taking advantage of them BAHAHAHAHAHA.”
In a later conversation, also about parking prices, Baker said, “Robbing them blind baby.”
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Live Nation argued that these remarks represented “off-the-cuff banter, not policy, decision-making, or facts of consequence.”
As part of the DOJ settlement, Live Nation is supposed to pay a $280 million fine and divest at least 13 of its venues, requiring those venues to accept bookings from competing promoters. But given the jury’s finding that Live Nation operated as an illegal monopoly, the consequences might end up being more severe.
What happens next isn’t clear. Judge Arun Subramanian still has to determine remedies at a later date. But the possibility of breaking up Live Nation and Ticketmaster remains on the table.
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