“Either we are together or we are competitors.”
After a tumultuous week following the Justice Department’s mid-trial settlement with Live Nation-Ticketmaster, the antitrust trial resumed smoothly on Monday, now led by dozens of states.
This was not the outcome initially desired by the states. Due to concerns over effectively taking over the case and fear that the jury might be biased by the disruption, they requested a mistrial, which would have reset the court battle to a future date. However, Judge Arun Subramanian seemed inclined to deny the request. Once the states figured out how to retain the DOJ’s expert witness and quickly staffed up, they withdrew the mistrial motion. The trial picked up from where it left off, with testimony about Live Nation’s “velvet hammer” strategy against rivals.
Subramanian welcomed jurors back from their “spring break,” ensuring they had not been exposed to case news. He reminded jurors that the US and some states had resolved their claims, but others were proceeding, and jurors should not infer anything from these changes.
With the DOJ absent, new attorneys, including Jonathan Hatch from the New York AG’s office and Jeffrey Kessler of Winston & Strawn, took over, beginning with Jay Marciano, COO of AEG, a Live Nation competitor. Jurors were refreshed on prior testimony, with Marciano discussing preferred European ticketing models versus the US’s exclusive ticketing contracts.
During cross-examination, Marciano revisited a call that earlier surfaced in the trial between the Barclays Center’s then-CEO and Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino, interpreted as a threat to protect Ticketmaster but defended as common promoter practice by Marciano.
Live Nation’s US concerts president, Robert Roux, addressed allegations of maintaining monopoly power over US amphitheaters. Plaintiff attorney Josh Hafenbrack presented Live Nation’s strides in dominating top amphitheaters by ticket sales. Roux confirmed Live Nation’s control over a significant number of top venues and denied acting anticompetitively, arguing the states ignored competing venue types.
Emails showed Live Nation’s internal discussions on competition and business strategy, including Rapino’s communication about acquiring Red Mountain Entertainment. Roux described strategies as a firm positioning rather than antagonistic behavior.
In 2020, Rapino advised against letting Radio Disney and Superfly into a Live Nation venue, despite a lucrative contract offer, due to concerns over third-party promoters.
Roux testified that Live Nation’s amphitheater profits have significantly increased between 2019 and 2024. Despite the DOJ’s absence, the trial continued smoothly, and it is expected to run several more weeks, culminating with Live Nation’s CEO as a high-profile witness.