Attorney General Brenna Bird Announces Win in Live Nation Antitrust Suit

DES MOINES-Attorney General Brenna Bird announced a win for the state of Iowa in the antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster. Attorney General Bird, along with 39 other attorneys general and the U.S. Department of Justice had sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster over monopoly concerns in the live entertainment industry. On the heels of a settlement with the United States Department of Justice, Live Nation also agreed to a settlement with several states, including Iowa.

Live Nation entered exclusive deals with the country's largest venues to ensure that all tickets sold at those venues were sold through the company's platform. That power meant that Live Nation could require venues and artists to exclusively use their platform. Live Nation's monopoly has squashed competition and devastated the live entertainment industry with reported poor customer service, inflated prices, and restrictions on ticket purchasing.

"Live Nation and Ticketmaster were hurting competition," said Attorney General Bird. "The amount of control they had over artists, concerts, venues, and promotions needed to be addressed so the entertainment industry in Iowa can remain strong and Iowa concert goers don't have to pay higher prices. We're happy the settlement makes the market fairer and means Iowans can pay lower ticket prices to attend concerts and events."

Iowa has agreed to settlement terms identical to the Department of Justice (DOJ) that will be finalized in an agreement later. Those terms include:

• Live Nation/Ticketmaster will give up ownership of certain theaters and arenas across the country.

• Live Nation/Ticketmaster's ability to acquire a major concert venue to exclusively use it for booking, ticketing or both will be prohibited, limited, or optional. This allows venues to choose different ticketing vendors and gives both artists and venues more choices of who to book and where to play.

Additionally, Iowa negotiated with Live Nation and will receive $3 million dollars in settlement of its claims.

Read the Department of Justice's term sheet here.

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For More Information:

Jen Green

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