Live Nation Ceo Defends Company Ticket Pricing Practices In Antitrust Trial

Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino took nan guidelines for respective hours successful Manhattan national tribunal successful a high-stakes antitrust trial, wherever he pushed backmost connected accusations that nan institution illegally monopolizes unrecorded concerts successful nan U.S.

The lawsuit was primitively brought by nan Department of Justice and dozens of authorities attorneys general. However, nan national authorities struck a astonishment colony pinch nan institution successful early March, pursuing a face-to-face gathering betwixt Rapino and Omeed Assefi, nan acting adjunct lawyer wide for nan Antitrust Division.

A mostly of nan authorities attorneys wide lambasted nan woody and committed to pursuing their claims against Live Nation and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster.

Jeffrey Kessler, an lawyer for nan states, grilled Rapino connected nan company's performance pricing tactics, exclusive semipermanent contracts and allegations of fostering an anticompetitive environment.

Rapino defended nan business he built, saying nan manufacture was erstwhile “fragmented,” which he described arsenic nan “wild, chaotic west.”

He said Live Nation has since brought “business professionalism” to nan unrecorded events space, which competitors person replicated.

"You want to build a amended mousetrap than nan different guys," Rapino said. "We were up of nan curve successful owning ticketing, owning venues, and performance promotion."

Still, seasoned antitrust lawyer Kessler pressed Rapino connected rising ticketing fees and connected complaints from artists, including Adele who wasn’t allowed to waste tickets straight to fans done a 3rd party, moreover erstwhile she offered to screen nan ticketing fees herself.

“We would ne'er opportunity nary to Adele,” Rapino said. “We said nary to nan ticketing institution trying to get free tickets.”

Kessler reminded Rapino of a 2016 email wherever he expressed interest complete nan ticketing costs for an Alabama Shakes concert.

"Our fees are excessively high. We can’t take sides them," Rapino wrote astatine nan time.

Rapino told Kessler that he couldn't callback nan email aliases what it was about, saying it was from 10 years ago.

Kessler questioned Rapino astir his knowledge of an executive boasting astir "robbing" concertgoers "blind" done an summation successful performance parking fees.

Rapino said he wasn't alert of nan messages until recently, saying, "It's disgusting, and it's not really we operate."

In 2022, Ben Baker, a location ticketing head astatine nan time, messaged a workfellow connected Slack, referencing a information group search yearly gross gross for "premier parking," which accrued from $470,000 successful 2018 to $666,000 successful 2021.

"Robbing them unsighted baby," Baker said. "That’s really we do."

His workfellow responded, saying, "lol."

When asked if nan institution had taken immoderate disciplinary action against Baker, Rapino said, "I person it nether review, and he has apologized. We for illustration to springiness our labor a break, and we don’t occurrence easily."

Andrew Gass, a lawyer for Live Nation, questioned Rapino astir allegations that nan institution strong-armed venues and their billionaire owners into exclusive Ticketmaster contracts.

Gass asked whether James Dolan, nan proprietor of Madison Square Garden, was personification nan institution "could push around."

"Certainly not," Rapino replied. "I don’t show a billionaire what to do pinch his venue. He tells me."

Rapino besides changeable down claims that he threatened to withhold concerts astatine nan Barclays Center aft it chose a competitor complete Ticketmaster.

On a recorded telephone pinch erstwhile Barclays CEO John Abbamondi, Rapino said, "It's going to beryllium a reliable clip to present tickets aliases concerts pinch a caller competitor successful town, sloppy of ticketing."

Abbamondi testified 2 weeks agone that he viewed Rapino's connection arsenic a threat to reroute concerts to nan UBS Arena and said Barclays knowledgeable a "dramatic decline" successful shows aft dropping Ticketmaster.

Rapino said that he had "zero" intent to frighten nan venue.