NC attorney general blasts antitrust settlement over Ticketmaster practices
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Attorney General Jeff Jackson calls settlement “barely a slap on the wrist.”
- Term sheet caps fees at 15% and targets 13 venue agreements for divestiture.
- Jackson vows continued litigation to restore competition and lower tickets.
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson on Monday criticized a recent antitrust settlement between entertainment company Live Nation and the Trump administration as “barely a slap on the wrist.”
The settlement attempts to resolve a lawsuit filed nearly two years ago by the U.S. Department of Justice and dozens of state attorneys general across the country. They criticized the “anticompetitive conduct” of Live Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster — including locking concert venues into long-term agreements and restricting artists’ access to certain venues, as well as adding fees for ticket buyers.
Jackson, alongside more than 20 of those attorneys general requested a mistrial and argued that the settlement changes the character of the case and threatens access to witnesses and evidence.
Jackson told The News & Observer on Tuesday that the settlement was a surprise, including to the lead attorney for the U.S. DOJ, “which means the deal wasn’t made in the courtroom. It was made in D.C.”
“We had already started trial. We prepared for this trial for months,” he said. “... The first couple of witnesses gave very strong testimony about how Live Nation and Ticketmaster had threatened retaliation against folks who didn’t accept their terms.”
Jackson said the settlement doesn’t address Live Nation’s control of ticketing, performers and venues within the music industry.
“If you control all three of those levers, you can dictate terms and you can raise prices,” he said. “And that’s what we’ve seen from them.”
In a statement on Monday, Live Nation said the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing.
It said there was no financial aspect to the settlement, but said the company is separately creating a $280 million settlement fund to address the states’ claims.
A term sheet for the settlement instructs Live Nation to cap ticketing fees at 15% for its owned-and-operated amphitheaters, and to divest its agreements with 13 venues across the country.
Jackson said that while the timeline for future litigation is still fluid, legal action against Live Nation will continue.
Terms of the settlement
One of the claims in the lawsuit accuses Live Nation of restricting artists’ use of its venues unless the artist also agreed to use the company’s promotion services.
The settlement would address this claim by forcing Live Nation to allow artists to use venues “regardless of whether the artist also retains Live Nation to provide promotional services.”
The lawsuit also accuses Live Nation of exploiting a partnership with Oak View Group, a company that manages sports venues.
Live Nation has allegedly reprimanded Oak View Group when it has tried to compete, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit added that Oak View Group has “avoided bidding against Live Nation” and helped to sway artists to sign agreements with Ticketmaster.
The settlement would force Live Nation to end its agreement with Oak View Group within 30 days.
It would also require any venue that is managed by Oak View Group and has a Ticketmaster contract to disclose the contract, and allow the venue to look for a new primary ticketing service “at the election of the venue, without penalty.”
Lastly, the settlement prohibits Live Nation from any similar agreements that would provide rewards for Ticketmaster contracts.
Some of the state attorneys general requesting a mistrial are Republicans, including Utah’s Derek Brown and Ohio’s Dave Yost.
Jackson, a Democrat, said the bipartisan support speaks volumes.
“I think it’s because everybody understands what’s going on here,” he said. “You have a company that was allowed to become a monopoly, and now they’re abusing their power and doing it in a way that consumers really feel.”
Jackson said any outcome of the legal action must bring competition back.
He said the benchmark of success is meaningfully addressing ticket inflation “so that it would be easier for families to take their kids to see a show.”
“I’m a dad, and I would love to be able to take my daughter to a concert that we could afford,” he said. “But I’m also attorney general, which means I can really do something. And that’s what I’m going to do.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2026 at 10:34 AM.
