Live Nation is pushing back against the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust lawsuit and is seeking to move the case to Washington DC, while also aiming to dismiss several aspects of the case. Represented by law firms Latham & Watkins and Cravath Swaine & Moore, Live Nation, and Ticketmaster argue that the case belongs in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
They cite that this court is the designated forum for matters related to the 2010 consent decree, which allowed their merger under specific conditions.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster maintain that the DOJ’s allegations of monopolistic practices are directly related to whether the 2010 consent decree succeeded in protecting competition. They argue that the DC court, which approved the merger, should assess these allegations.
They refute the DOJ’s claims that the merger created an illegal monopoly that stifled competition, insisting that the lawsuit is unfounded and that the consent decree did not harm competition.
The new filing by Live Nation and Ticketmaster asserts that the DOJ and 16 state plaintiffs agreed to the terms of the merger under the 2010 decree and committed not to modify it outside the DC court. They argue that the current lawsuit is an attempt to undermine that agreement by filing in a different venue.
Live Nation believes that moving the case to the DC court would appropriately acknowledge the significance of the decree and the company’s compliance history.
Judge Arun Subramanian, who is presiding over the case, has not yet decided on the request to change the venue but emphasized the need to proceed with discovery, given the fixed trial date of March 2, 2026.
Meanwhile, Live Nation is advocating for key corporate officers, including antitrust expert Dan Wall, to have access to all discovery files. The DOJ opposes this, arguing that Wall and SVP of Litigation Kimberly Tobias cannot be trusted with sensitive information provided by Live Nation’s competitors during the investigation.
Judge Subramanian has proposed a two-tiered access system for case-related documents, allowing Wall and Tobias to participate in the defense while restricting their access to certain confidential information. The specifics of this arrangement were to be finalized by July 25, or the court will determine the details based on the remaining points of contention between the DOJ and Live Nation.