Live Nation Pushes Back on States’ Renewed Bid for DOJ Settlement Records

The company challenged the states’ request in federal court in New York, according to an Oct. 2 report by Law360. The states are seeking material connected with the agreement Live Nation reached with the Justice Department during its antitrust trial, including certain communications involving third parties and outside lawyers, Law360 reported.

Live Nation contends the latest demands remain too expansive, according to Law360. The dispute marks another round in the states’ effort to examine how the federal settlement was negotiated and reached, even after the court previously declined to authorize a broader discovery request.

In August, a federal judge rejected an earlier attempt by the attorneys general to obtain discovery concerning the settlement because the proposed scope was unclear, while leaving the states an opportunity to return with more focused requests, according to Law360.

The disagreement stems from an unusual split between federal and state antitrust authorities over the future of Live Nation and its Ticketmaster business.

The Justice Department sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster in May 2024 alongside a group of states, alleging antitrust violations in the live-entertainment industry. The federal government later reached a settlement with Live Nation during the trial. Justice Department records show a notice of settlement was filed March 9, followed in June by a proposed final judgment and other documents setting out the agreement.

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Read more: What the Live Nation Jury Instructions Tell Us About California’s Unfair Competition Law

Under the federal deal, Live Nation was permitted to retain Ticketmaster while accepting a series of restrictions and structural remedies. Bloomberg News reported in March that the settlement called for Live Nation to divest ownership or control of 13 concert venues and included measures designed to make it easier for competing ticketing services to operate at major venues. The agreement also subjected acquisitions by Live Nation to Justice Department review and contemplated as much as $280 million in damages depending on state participation.

The agreement drew objections from state officials who continued pursuing the case. Bloomberg News reported that the states alleged the Justice Department had kept them in the dark about the settlement and structured its timing in a way that complicated their ability to proceed with the trial.

Those state plaintiffs subsequently secured a jury verdict finding that Live Nation had illegally monopolized parts of the live-entertainment business. They later asked the court for a remedy that would include separating Ticketmaster from Live Nation, according to Bloomberg News.

The states’ continuing pursuit of settlement-related material puts the circumstances surrounding the federal agreement back at the center of the case. In July, both Live Nation and the Justice Department opposed an earlier discovery push by a bipartisan group of attorneys general, arguing against further examination of the negotiations, according to Law360’s case coverage.

The court’s August ruling did not completely close the door. Instead, it allowed the states to return with requests that were more narrowly tailored, according to Law360. Their latest effort — and Live Nation’s opposition — will require the court to determine whether the revised demands now meet that standard.

The fight adds another layer to a case that has evolved from a joint federal-state challenge to Live Nation’s business practices into a dispute in which different government plaintiffs are pursuing sharply different paths toward resolving alleged competition problems in the concert and ticketing markets.

Source: Law360