AAI’s Diana Moss Tells World Ticket Conference That Breakup is the Only Remedy for the Live Nation-Ticketmaster Monopoly

AAI’s Diana Moss joined the ticketing policy panel at the World Ticket Conference on July 14th in Las Vegas. The panel “…explore[d] the problems in the current live event ticketing marketplace and what the government can do to protect consumers from bad actors and anti-competitive business practices.” In her remarks, Moss explained why the 2010 merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster should have been enjoined, not settled with remedies. She unpacked AAI’s February 2020 letter to DOJ criticizing the Antitrust Division’s move to extend the terms of the consent decree, as opposed to bringing a monopolization case or a consummated merger challenge to break up the company. The amended consent decree, containing ineffective conduct remedies, allows Live Nation-Ticketmaster to continue engaging in harmful exclusionary practices, to the detriment of the secondary market and consumers. Panelists included: Diana Moss–American Antitrust Institute, Brian Hess–Sports Fan Coalition, Brian Berry–Protect Ticket Rights, and Marc Lanoue—office of Senator Klobuchar.