Attorneys normal from about two dozen states are searching for treble damages in opposition to Stay Nation Leisure and its ticket-selling unit, Ticketmaster, for allegedly monopolizing markets throughout the dwell live performance trade in an up to date model of a lawsuit initially filed in Might.
The Justice Division and a number of other states sued three months in the past to interrupt up Stay Nation, arguing the live performance promoter and Ticketmaster illegally inflated live performance ticket costs and harm artists like Taylor Swift.
Some states had sought damages beneath state regulation within the unique lawsuit. By including claims beneath the federal anti-monopoly regulation, states can search thrice the financial damages.
On Monday, 10 states joined the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal courtroom, and 26 states and the District of Columbia added claims for treble damages on behalf of their residents.
New York Legal professional Basic Letitia James mentioned in a press release that her workplace is searching for damages for what state residents had been overcharged by Stay Nation and Ticketmaster.
“It’s time for a brand new period the place followers, venues, and artists should not taken benefit of by massive companies that run the world of dwell occasions,” she mentioned.
Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah and Vermont joined the lawsuit, boosting the whole to 39 states and the District of Columbia.
The lawsuit says Stay Nation instantly manages greater than 400 musical artists and controls round 60% of live performance promotions at main venues. Based on the grievance, Stay Nation owns or controls greater than 265 live performance venues in North America, and thru Ticketmaster controls roughly 80% or extra of huge venues’ major ticketing for live shows.
A Stay Nation spokesperson mentioned the lawsuit “nonetheless received’t remedy the problems followers care about regarding ticket costs, service charges, and entry to in-demand exhibits.”
“We sit up for sharing extra details because the case progresses,” the spokesperson mentioned.
The DOJ mentioned in courtroom papers that the “huge scope” of Stay Nation and Ticketmaster allowed them to “insert themselves on the heart and the sides of nearly each side of the dwell music ecosystem.”
In 2010, the Justice Division accepted Ticketmaster’s controversial merger with Stay Nation, with circumstances meant to cease the mixed firm from harming competitors.
In 2020, a courtroom prolonged a lot of the DOJ’s oversight of the merger to 2025 as a result of, the division mentioned, Ticketmaster retaliated in opposition to stadiums and arenas that opted to make use of different ticketing firms.
The Justice Division mentioned that since its final case, Stay Nation has engaged in additional anticompetitive exercise.
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