Colorado has joined a federal lawsuit in opposition to mega-promoter Stay Nation Leisure together with practically 30 different states, Legal professional Common Phil Weiser mentioned Thursday, alleging a ticketing and reserving monopoly that has harmed customers.
The long-expected lawsuit, for which the U.S. Justice Division has been laying groundwork ever because the Taylor Swift ticket debacle in 2022, comes within the wake of record-high common ticket costs and complaints about bots and scalpers — and because the live performance business has roared again over the past three years with file income.
Now, the U.S. Justice Division and Colorado, 28 different states and the District of Columbia search to interrupt up what they name an unlawful monopoly and power Stay Nation to promote Ticketmaster.
“Ticketmaster is the dominant supplier of ticketing providers in america and each followers and artists face extraordinary stress to make use of its monopoly,” Weiser mentioned in an announcement. “In consequence, followers are paying exorbitant costs. This lawsuit requires opening up competitors in ticketing providers and stopping Stay Nation from utilizing its different belongings in ways in which undermine competitors.”
Stay Nation has primarily develop into a vertical monopoly, the lawsuit alleges, by inserting itself “into practically each facet of the stay music business, together with ticket gross sales, promotions, advertising and marketing and venues,” Weiser’s workplace wrote.
The federal lawsuit, filed within the U.S. District Courtroom for the Southern District of New York, echoes that language, saying Stay Nation maintains its unlawful monopoly “by means of an internet of agreements, together with different anticompetitive acts, to make larger income, stifle competitors and innovation within the business, and thereby hurt concertgoers.”
Stay Nation officers known as the lawsuit “baseless” and mentioned it gained’t assist scale back excessive ticket costs, in keeping with an announcement launched to information media retailers.
“The DOJ’s lawsuit gained’t clear up the problems followers care about referring to ticket costs, service charges, and entry to in-demand exhibits,” Stay Nation mentioned. “Calling Ticketmaster a monopoly could also be a PR win for the DOJ within the brief time period, however it’s going to lose in courtroom as a result of it ignores the essential economics of stay leisure, similar to the truth that the majority of service charges go to venues, and that competitors has steadily eroded Ticketmaster’s market share and revenue margin.”
Stay Nation earlier this yr mentioned it had earned $22.7 billion in 2023 throughout greater than 50,000 occasions that drew 145 million followers — up 20 % from the earlier yr.
Weiser’s workplace mentioned Stay Nation has locked up venues in Colorado and throughout the nation “by means of restrictive long-term, unique agreements and threats that venues will lose entry to live performance excursions and artists in the event that they signal with a rival ticketing firm,” his workplace wrote. “Stay Nation additionally leverages its intensive community of amphitheaters to power artists to pick out Stay Nation as a promoter as an alternative of its rivals, sustaining its promotions monopoly.”
Regardless of the outcomes of the lawsuit, they might doubtless have an effect on the Denver and Colorado markets lower than others. Colorado is the uncommon state the place Stay Nation and Ticketmaster have far much less attain than rival promoter AEG Presents, which was based and owned by Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz.
Anschutz over time has cherry-picked expertise from Stay Nation, together with former AEG Presents Rocky Mountains president and CEO Chuck Morris, to construct its enterprise whereas aggressively reserving and renting the highest venues within the space.
At present, AEG Presents Rocky Mountains books the vast majority of concert events on the Denver-owned Pink Rocks Amphitheatre, owns Fiddler’s Inexperienced Amphitheatre and the Gothic Theatre, and persistently rents and dominates venues such because the Bluebird Theater and Ogden Theatre. AEG Presents constructed and runs Mission Ballroom, and books concert events at out of doors venues similar to Dillon Amphitheater and Colorado Springs’ newly constructed Sundown Amphitheatre.
AXS, the ticketing spin-off of AEG, can be the official ticket vendor for Denver metropolis occasions, the contract for which Metropolis Council members should approve each 5 years. Its present, $5 million contract was accredited in 2019.
Stay Nation, against this, has a a lot smaller footprint. It owns the Fillmore Auditorium and books that venue together with Summit Music Corridor, the Marquis Theater and a few — however not all — exhibits at Ball Area, Empower Subject at Mile Excessive and Coors Subject.
Regardless, Stay Nation’s ways current issues for music followers, Weiser’s workplace mentioned.
“Because of this, followers attending concert events at Stay Nation-controlled amphitheaters get entry to fewer exhibits and see fewer artists than they in any other case would. Artists, in the meantime, are pressured to undergo Stay Nation to succeed in music lovers, even when they’re dissatisfied with Stay Nation’s therapy of followers.”
“It’s time to finish Stay Nation/Ticketmaster’s anticompetitive ways and ironclad grip on this market,” Weiser mentioned.
Subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter, In The Know, to get leisure information despatched straight to your inbox.