The U.S. Department of Justice is set to file an antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster parent company, Live Nation.
Transcript:
CONWAY GITTENS: I’m Conway Gittens reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today.
Wall Street is continuing to react to a blowout quarter from Nvidia – the AI chip giant beat analyst estimates with profit skyrocketing over 600 percent in its first quarter. With a 2.3 trillion dollar market cap, the stock has a pretty notable sway over the S&P 500. This positive report fueled optimism the AI revolution isn’t overhyped.
Separately investors are reacting to weekly jobless claims – 215,000 people filed for unemployment last week, slightly below estimates of 220,000.
In other news – The Department of Justice, as well as several U.S. states, plan to sue Live Nation Entertainment — the parent company of Ticketmaster. According to published reports, the government intends to argue that Live Nation used Ticketmaster’s exclusive contracts with venues to increase prices and fees for consumers. The DOJ claims Live Nation has an illegal monopoly in the entertainment industry.
In January of 2023, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle condemned Live Nation after a Ticketmaster glitch left millions unable to buy tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. But Live Nation’s CFO claimed bots were to blame, not the company.
In March of this year, Live Nation dedicated a post on its website to hitting back at antitrust attacks – claiming the company isn’t to blame for high ticket prices — saying “Tickets are actually priced by artists and teams. It’s their show, they get to decide what it costs to get in.”
Ticketmaster alone is believed to be responsible for 70 to 80 percent of the ticketing at major U.S. concert venues.
That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m Conway Gittens with TheStreet.
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