Live Nation has reached a settlement with the Justice Department in its high-stakes antitrust case less than a week after the trial began, Politico reported Monday.
The deal — expected to be announced Monday — requires Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, to pay roughly $200 million in damages to participating states.
A central piece of the agreement calls for structural changes to Live Nation’s ticketing business, the report said.
Under the settlement, Ticketmaster will be required to open parts of its platform to competing ticket companies, allowing third-party sellers such as SeatGeek and Eventbrite to list tickets directly through Ticketmaster’s technology.
The agreement also places new limits on the long-term exclusivity contracts Ticketmaster has historically used with venues. Those deals will be capped at four years and venues will be allowed to allocate a portion of their tickets to competing ticket platforms.
“This will revolutionize the ticketing marketplace,” one person familiar with the negotiations said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “These are innovative technological solutions to a very difficult problem with prying open the marketplace.”
The Justice Department and 40 state attorneys general originally sued Live Nation in May 2024 during the Biden administration, accusing the company of building and maintaining an illegal monopoly over live events through its control of ticketing, concert venues and artist promotion.
Government officials argued the company used that dominance to squeeze competitors and lock venues into exclusive arrangements that harmed both artists and fans.
Another major focus of the case involved Live Nation’s control of amphitheaters. The Justice Department said the company controls roughly 78% of the nation’s major amphitheaters — a limited venue category that gives Live Nation significant leverage across the live music industry.
Under the settlement, Live Nation will be required to sell more than 10 amphitheaters, a move intended to create more independently operated venues and reduce the company’s hold over the live music ecosystem.
The agreement also targets Ticketmaster’s service fees at Live Nation amphitheaters. Under the deal, those fees will be capped at 15% of the ticket price.
The case had already begun moving forward in Manhattan federal court. A 12-person jury was seated last Tuesday and witness testimony had begun by the end of the week. The settlement brings the high-profile antitrust battle to an abrupt end before the trial could fully play out.
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