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Live Nation has filed a motion in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York asking for a quick end—or summary judgment—to the antitrust case brought by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) against the company and its ticketing arm, Ticketmaster.
The motion, filed on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, asserts that the DOJ’s case is based on “gerrymandered” evidence and fails to meet the legal standard required to prove monopoly power.
Challenge to Market Share Data
Live Nation’s lawyers directly challenged the government’s market share calculations. They argue the DOJ improperly measured the market by excluding larger venues, leading to an inflated figure.
- The memorandum cited the DOJ’s own expert calculations, which allegedly show that Live Nation’s market share in primary ticketing services drops from 86% to 49% when stadiums are included in the measure.
- Live Nation argues that a market share below 50% means the plaintiff (the DOJ) must offer additional evidence that the defendant is able to exclude competition to avoid summary judgment.
- The memorandum asserts that the alleged relevant markets are “gerrymandered in obvious and legally indefensible ways” specifically because including all major concert venues makes Live Nation’s market share too low to infer monopoly power.
- Furthermore, Live Nation’s lawyers state that Ticketmaster has lost over 30 points of market share since the 2010 merger, which they claim is a “sure sign that it does not have monopoly power.”
Defense on Venue Contracts
The motion also addressed the government’s core assertion that Live Nation coerces venues into signing exclusive ticketing contracts with Ticketmaster.
- Live Nation asserted that, to the contrary, “every venue witness has testified that they seek and prefer exclusive ticketing contracts.”
- The lawyers argued there is no competent evidence that exclusive contracting allows Ticketmaster to secure supracompetitive prices from venues or exclude rivals.
- The claims that Ticketmaster leverages Live Nation-sponsored shows to secure exclusive contracts are dismissed as inadmissible hearsay, relying on testimony from rival ticketing companies rather than venues.
Context of Ongoing Legal Issues
The DOJ originally filed the antitrust suit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster in May 2024, alleging “monopolization and other unlawful conduct that thwarts competition in markets across the live entertainment industry.”
Earlier this year, US District Court Judge Arun Subramanian had rejected Live Nation’s attempt to dismiss parts of the DOJ’s case, including the government’s “tying” claim—the accusation that Live Nation forces artists to use its promotion services if they want to perform at Live Nation-owned venues.
Live Nation also faces a separate legal challenge, as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued the company in September over allegations that it profited from scalping activities by violating its own limits on ticket batch purchases.
The filing of the motion for summary judgment marks a critical escalation in Live Nation’s defense, demanding the court rule on the case before it moves to trial.
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