AEG says the DOJ deal leaves Ticketmaster’s power intact, while SeatGeek argues the court should not bless a settlement that fails the public-interest test.
AEG and SeatGeek are pressing a federal judge to throw out the Justice Department’s antitrust settlement with Live Nation, arguing the deal leaves Ticketmaster’s core advantage untouched.
The filings land as Judge Arun Subramanian weighs whether the proposed judgment serves the public interest under the Tunney Act. The comment period closed September 4. The DOJ now has to respond to the submissions and file them with the court before the judge rules.
AEG says the deal preserves Ticketmaster’s leverage
AEG, which competes with Live Nation in concert promotion and ticketing and owns venues including Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, wants the court to order a sale of Ticketmaster and bar the long-term exclusive contracts Ticketmaster signs with major concert venues.
Its filing, submitted with Messina Touring Group founder Louis Messina, takes direct aim at the structure of the settlement. AEG says the proposed decree looks different from the earlier consent decrees on paper, but not in practice.
“The Proposed Decree differs from the prior failed decrees in form, not in substance,” the filing says. “It leaves intact – indeed, it protects – Live Nation’s anticompetitive flywheel: venues will continue to sign up for Ticketmaster exclusive contracts so they do not lose valuable Live Nation shows. The threat need not be spoken to be effective.”
AEG’s argument is simple: as long as Live Nation controls the concerts venues want, those venues will keep choosing Ticketmaster, not because it is the best option, but because walking away is too costly. The filing says the proposed remedy does not break that cycle. It tightens it.
AEG also attacks the settlement’s “open distribution” system, which would let rival ticketing companies plug into Ticketmaster’s back-end software. AEG says Ticketmaster would still collect its fees on those sales, turning the arrangement into competition to sell Ticketmaster tickets on Ticketmaster’s own system.
“But of course that is not competition at all,” AEG wrote.
Under AEG’s reading of the proposal, Ticketmaster would still control about 85% of the market, or roughly 6,500 of 7,500 events a year at major concert venues, with only about 170 events opened to rivals.
SeatGeek and Messina widen the attack
SeatGeek, which competes with Ticketmaster in primary and secondary ticketing, also asked the court to reject the settlement. Its filing says the deal is not in the public interest.
Messina’s comments add another layer. He wrote that Live Nation stopped returning his calls in 2024 and blocked his artists from using him at its amphitheaters. Messina said he operates in partnership with AEG, but runs his company independently.
In his separate submission, Messina argued that Live Nation’s money comes from ticketing fees and sponsorships, not from promoting tours. He pointed to the company’s public financial statements and said Live Nation makes almost a billion dollars a year from ticketing fees while often making little, if any, money in touring.
“But my arrangement with Live Nation ended in 2024,” he wrote. “I was trying to route several tours through Live Nation amphitheaters, but Live Nation stopped returning my calls and blocked my artists from using me.”
The settlement’s price tag is part of the fight
AEG says the financial terms are too small to change Live Nation’s behavior. The filing argues that an $18 million payment and a $5 million penalty per violation will not alter the company’s incentives. That $18 million is separate from the $280 million fund set aside for state damages claims; it covers payments to the six states that joined the settlement.
AEG says that amount is less than 0.1% of Live Nation’s annual revenue, which its filing puts at more than $25 billion in 2025.
The company also points back to the 2010 and 2020 consent decrees, which imposed conduct rules on Live Nation rather than forcing a breakup. AEG asks why an eight-year version of that approach should work now when 15 years of similar restrictions did not.
Live Nation settled with the DOJ in March, a week into trial, agreeing to divest 13 amphitheater booking agreements, cap Ticketmaster service fees at 15% of face value at Live Nation amphitheaters, set aside $280 million for state damages claims, and extend its consent decree by eight years. Most states refused the deal and kept litigating. In April, a jury found Live Nation and Ticketmaster had illegally monopolized the U.S. ticketing and amphitheater markets.
Also weighing in was the Progressive Policy Institute, which urged rejection on September 3, and 18 attorneys general representing 17 states and the District of Columbia filed on September 4. The judge now has a record full of objections, and the DOJ has to answer for every one of them before Subramanian decides whether the settlement stands.
