Jury Finds Live Nation and Ticketmaster Illegally Eliminated Competition, Hurting Fans, Artists, and Competing Venues

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04/15/2026

Jury Finds Live Nation and Ticketmaster Illegally Eliminated Competition, Hurting Fans, Artists, and Competing Venues

(Hartford, CT)- Today, Attorney General Tong and a coalition of 33 other attorneys general won their lawsuit against Live Nation after a jury found that Live Nation and Ticketmaster violated federal and state antitrust laws by eliminating competition and driving up costs for fans, artists, and venues across the country. After a five-week trial, the jury found that the State coalition successfully proved that Live Nation and Ticketmaster have unlawfully maintained and abused their monopoly power preventing other ticketing services, venue owners, and concert promoters from successfully competing. As a result, fans are charged higher prices for tickets.

"Today's verdict confirms what fans, artists, venues and states like Connecticut have been saying for years -Live Nation and Ticketmaster built and maintained a system that shuts out competition and drives up prices. Even after the Department of Justice reached a weak and ill-conceived settlement, Connecticut and a coalition of other states refused to back down because we knew that deal did not go far enough to fix a broken marketplace. This is a major step in restoring fairness in the live entertainment marketplace. We will continue pressing forward to ensure real accountability, meaningful reform, and a system that puts consumers first," said Attorney General Tong.

In May 2024, Attorney General Tong, a coalition of 40 other states, and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Live Nation, alleging that its control over almost every aspect of the live event business - from venue ownership to event promotion to ticketing services through Ticketmaster - allowed it to raise costs for both fans and artists and suppress competition. During the trial that began on March 2, 2026, DOJ reached a settlement with Live Nation. Attorney General Tong and the coalition of 33 states rejected it and chose to continue litigation.

The jury found Live Nation and Ticketmaster liable for violating federal and state laws by engaging in anticompetitive conduct. The jury found that Ticketmaster unlawfully maintains a monopoly in the market for ticketing services at major concert venues. The jury also found that Live Nation has a monopoly in the market for large amphitheaters used by artists and that Live Nation unlawfully requires artists who use the amphitheaters it owns to also use its event promotion services. In addition, the jury determined that fans have been overcharged for concert tickets at major concert venues across the country.

Having successfully proven their case on liability to the jury, Attorney General Tong and the coalition will argue for remedies and financial penalties at a separate bench trial.

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Media Contact:

Elizabeth Benton [email protected]

Consumer Inquiries:

860-808-5318 [email protected]

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