Live Nation settlement

Live Nation has agreed to pay Washington, D.C., $9.9 million over Ticketmaster pricing practices, with up to $8.9 million earmarked for customer refunds. (oag.dc.gov) D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced the settlement on April 20, 2026, saying the case covered allegations that Live Nation misled ticket buyers for about a decade. The attorney general’s office said the company hid mandatory fees until checkout and used pressure messages to push purchases. (oag.dc.gov) The District said the conduct ran from 2015 until May 2025. Under the settlement, Live Nation must keep showing the full ticket price, including mandatory fees, earlier in the buying process and give clearer information about what fees are for. (oag.dc.gov) The money is not going out immediately. The attorney general’s office said it will announce a claims process in the coming months for eligible Live Nation customers, and local reports said D.C. residents who bought tickets through Ticketmaster in the last decade may qualify. (oag.dc.gov) (wusa9.com) The settlement lands as Live Nation and Ticketmaster are already under broader scrutiny from regulators. The D.C. attorney general said this consumer-protection case is separate from the antitrust lawsuit that the U.S. Department of Justice and states filed against Live Nation in May 2024. (oag.dc.gov) (justice.gov) That antitrust case is still moving through federal court. The Justice Department’s case page lists the complaint filed on May 23, 2024, and a motion-to-dismiss ruling issued on March 14, 2025. (justice.gov) For ticket buyers, the practical question is simple: whether a past D.C. purchase will qualify once the District publishes claim rules. For Live Nation, the immediate result is a $9.9 million payment and a requirement to keep the pricing changes D.C. said it made during the investigation. (oag.dc.gov)