States seek Live Nation ticketing breakup

State attorneys general asked a federal judge on Thursday to force Live Nation Entertainment to sell Ticketmaster, escalating the remedies fight after a jury verdict last month found the company illegally monopolized parts of the live-music business. The filing puts U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan at the center of the next phase of the case. The states said a breakup is needed after the April 15 verdict found Live Nation and its Ticketmaster unit liable on all claims tried to the jury. Live Nation is separately trying to set aside the verdict, and further appeals are expected. ### What exactly did the states ask the judge to do? The states told the court on May 21 that Live Nation should be required to divest Ticketmaster to remedy what they called illegal monopolization of the live-music industry. Bloomberg Law reported the request was made by state attorneys general after their trial win. Billboard and The Verge separately reported that the filing asks the court to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster. (bloomberg.com) The proposed remedies go beyond the ticketing unit. TicketNews reported that the states also sought venue selloffs and the dissolution of Live Nation’s control over certain amphitheater arrangements. That request follows the jury’s finding that the company unlawfully monopolized amphitheaters and tied amphitheater access to concert-promotion services. (news.bloomberglaw.com) ### What did the jury actually decide in April? A federal jury in the Southern District of New York returned its verdict on April 15 after a trial brought by 33 states and the District of Columbia that continued after the U.S. Department of Justice settled separately with Live Nation during trial. New York Attorney General Letitia James said at the time that the jury found Live Nation and Ticketmaster liable for violating federal and state antitrust laws through anticompetitive conduct. (ticketnews.com) The verdict found that Ticketmaster unlawfully maintained a monopoly in ticketing services at major concert venues and that Live Nation and Ticketmaster also monopolized amphitheaters and tied those venues to concert-promotion services, according to legal summaries published after the trial. ABC News and NBC News also reported that jurors found Live Nation had used pressure and leverage to protect its position in ticketing. (ag.ny.gov) ### Why is this remedies phase separate from the earlier Justice Department case? The Justice Department reached a settlement with Live Nation in March 2026, but the coalition of states rejected that deal and continued to trial on their own. The New York attorney general’s office said the states chose to keep litigating, and the jury then returned a verdict in their favor one month later. (paulweiss.com) That split matters because the current filing comes from the states that won the verdict, not from the Justice Department. Paul Weiss, in a client memo summarizing the case, said the DOJ settlement did not require a divestiture of Ticketmaster, while the states are now asking for structural relief that includes divestiture. (ag.ny.gov) ### Who decides what happens next? Judge Arun Subramanian will decide the remedies phase unless the verdict is overturned first. Bloomberg reported that the breakup request places him “center stage” in determining the fate of the largest U.S. concert promoter and ticketing service. Live Nation is seeking to throw out the verdict on several grounds, Bloomberg reported, and appeals could extend the litigation for years. (paulweiss.com) Pollstar reported before the filing that the penalty phase was expected to begin with the May 21 remedies submission and could stretch into 2027. ### Could the company actually be broken up soon? (bloomberg.com) No immediate breakup order has been reported. The filing starts the court fight over remedies, and the judge still must decide whether to impose any structural changes. The Verge described the court as being “officially” tasked with deciding whether to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster. May 21 was the date the states submitted their proposed remedies, and the next major step is further proceedings before Judge Subramanian in federal court in Manhattan. (bloomberg.com) Live Nation’s post-verdict motions and any appeal are also still pending. (news.pollstar.com) (theverge.com)