Smart! Everyone’s eyes are focused on Iran War.
New York AG Tish James said the deal “fails to address the monopoly at the center of this case, and would benefit Live Nation at the expense of consumers.” And they will continue litigating. James issued a list, which notably includes both red and blue states.
Joining Attorney General James in continuing the lawsuit against Live Nation are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia.
The states have asked for a mistrial, arguing that the settlement has “has materially and irreparably prejudiced the Plaintiff States before the currently empaneled jury, and materially altered the character of these proceedings, including by jeopardizing Plaintiff States’ access to experts, witnesses, trial exhibits, demonstratives and necessary support staff (including graphic designers, trial technicians, related personnel).”
The judge has dismissed the jury for a week, and will have the parties in tomorrow to talk about the motion for a mistrial, including the Acting Assistant Attorney General, Omeed Assefi, and the CEO of Live Nation, Michael Rapino.
*It seems clear that the DOJ leaders don’t see what they did as a concession, they just don’t want to break up the company. *
So what did the DOJ and Live Nation agree on? Well the details are probably the least important part of the deal. There is conflicting reporting and the terms aren’t public.
Broadly, this consent decree would be the third Ticketmaster ‘deal’ since 2010, and none of them have delivered competition to the market. So there’s no reason to assume this one will either.