AAI will host an in-person competition roundtable at 10:30 am on October 20, 2022 at the Capitol Visitors Center in Washington DC. The roundtable will unpack ongoing, systemic competition problems in event ticketing markets. Senator Amy Klobuchar will deliver the opening remarks, followed by a panel discussion with a range of competition experts, including: Russell D’Souza, Co-Founder, SeatGeek; Brian Hess, Senior Director, Vice President, The Goodfriend Group; Jay L. Himes, Special Litigation Counsel, New York State Office of the Attorney General. AAI President, Diana L. Moss, will moderate the panel discussion. There is no cost to attend the competition roundtable.
The roundtable will focus on developing concrete and practical proposals to restore and reinvigorate competition in event ticketing. In the process, panelists will examine a number of key questions. Can anything short of structural relief revive competition in ticketing? What market conditions and practices have facilitated Ticketmaster’s such complete dominance? What would it mean to break up a merger a dozen years post-consummation and should that be done through Section 2 or Section 7? How do characteristics of the ticketing market, including developments in ticketing technology and transferability, invite monopolization? If so, how can these market characteristics be mitigated, or managed? Can technology be deployed to break through barriers to entry and improve the experience of artists and consumers?