Millions of Ticketmaster customers will likely be able to proceed with an antitrust class action lawsuit against the ticketing giant and its parent company Live Nation.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge George Wu took the motion for class certification under submission following a hearing.
The consumer lawsuit, filed in January 2022, seeks monetary damages on behalf of millions of both original and resale ticket purchasers, claiming that Live Nation and Ticketmaster dominate the ticketing market, leading to inflated prices. The court previously found that these claims of monopolistic practices are plausible. The plaintiffs specifically allege that Ticketmaster controls around 60% of a specific submarket in the ticketing industry.
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Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Live Nation Entertainment’s appeal seeking to enforce its controversial arbitration clause, leaving the concert giant and its Ticketmaster subsidiary to face a consumer antitrust lawsuit in federal court.
The decision marks a major setback for Live Nation, which had argued that its updated arbitration system—designed to route thousands of consumer complaints away from the courts—was protected under the Federal Arbitration Act. Instead, the justices let stand a Ninth Circuit ruling that found the company’s prior arbitration terms “unconscionable” and invalid under California law.
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Live Nation and Ticketmaster are facing a separate antitrust action filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and 39 states. Earlier this year, Judge Wu denied denied Live Nation’s request to delay the proposed class action until after the government’s case, which aims to break up the two companies and is set for a trial beginning in March of next year.
