Event companies Live Nation and Ticketmaster have reached a settlement in an antitrust lawsuit with the Department of Justice that could reach more than $200 million, but one local event promoter says it’s just a drop in an ocean.
According to the Associated Press, Ticketmaster's parent company, Live Nation, will allow venues to sell tickets through competitors like SeatGeek and sell 13 amphitheaters across the U.S.
Funtime Presents and Town Ballroom Co-owner Donny Kutzbach is skeptical about how much change there will be for consumers, local venues, or local promoters.
“Now, Ticketmaster is just going to, sort of, have to play by slightly different rules," he said. "They're still going to be altered. I just don't see it affecting -- from the top down -- I don't see it affecting people in my position on down to the consumer.”
There are conflicting reports on the settlement amount, it could be up to $280 million total, according to the AP, or $280 million for every state that signs the settlement, according to CNN.
New York Attorney General Letitia James says she will still pursue an antitrust lawsuit to break up the monopoly.
Live Nation handles more than 70 percent of ticket sales in the U.S., according to USA Today.
With such a stranglehold on the market, the company might be too big for the lawsuit to succeed, Kutzbach said.
“They have gotten too big. They have gotten too powerful,” he said. “I haven't seen this happen in other cases where a company that big and that powerful is ever taken down to a level where there is ever fair competition."
