Live performance big Reside Nation has slammed AEG Presents Chairman and CEO Jay Marciano for feedback he made relating to the Justice Division’s antitrust lawsuit filed in opposition to Reside Nation final month.
In a Could 31 memo obtained by MBW, Marciano known as AEG Presents competitor Reside Nation and its ticketing unit Ticketmaster a “monopoly.”
He additionally stated Reside Nation’s unique ticketing contracts “hinder competitors and innovation, lead to larger ticket charges, and take away the power of artists to decide on who will purchase tickets for his or her reveals and the way a lot their followers ought to pay.”
AEG Presents is the stay occasions division of Anschutz Leisure Group (AEG) and the world’s second-largest stay music promoter after Reside Nation. AEG additionally owns ticketing supplier AXS.
Marciano’s remarks got here per week after the U.S. Division of Justice joined 30 state and territory attorneys normal in submitting a civil antitrust lawsuit in opposition to Reside Nation Leisure and Ticketmaster.
Marciano wrote within the memo: “AEG has lengthy maintained that Ticketmaster has a monopoly within the U.S. ticketing market and makes use of that monopoly energy to subsidize Reside Nation’s content material enterprise, forestall others from competing in these areas, and deprive customers of Reside with the implications.
Marciano added: “This lawsuit is not only a lawsuit introduced by the Division of Justice to interrupt up a monopoly; the complete ecosystem of our trade, which has lengthy been affected by a severely broken ticketing mannequin, is in danger.
“As you already know, the cornerstone of Reside Nation’s monopoly is Ticketmaster’s unique ticketing agreements with the overwhelming majority of main live performance venues in the US. These agreements hinder competitors and innovation, lead to larger ticket costs, and forestall artists from selecting who can be their Exhibits purchase tickets and the way a lot their followers ought to pay.
Reside Nation executives responded to Marciano’s feedback within the memo in a press release to MBW and wall It was prompt the AEG boss’s arguments had been “egocentric” and needs to be “ignored”.
Wall is Reside Nation’s government vice chairman, company and regulatory affairs.
He formally joined Reside Nation in February 2023 and has served as the corporate’s “key advisor” for greater than 12 years. He beforehand served as a associate on the international legislation agency Latham & Watkins, the place he served as chief exterior counsel to supply steering.
The next is the complete textual content of Wall’s assertion:
“That’s why antitrust protects competitors, not opponents who attempt to use the courts to additional their pursuits. AEG supported the case — and, actually, requested the Justice Division to file the case — as a result of it didn’t need to pay artists market costs or persuade venues to Solely with its second-rate ticketing system.
“Its complaints about service charges are disingenuous as a result of if it actually cared about it, it will decrease AXS service charges at present. Self-serving arguments like this are frequent in antitrust circumstances, however needs to be ignored.
“AEG supported the case — and, actually, petitioned the Justice Division to sue — as a result of it didn’t need to pay artists market charges or persuade venues to solely undertake its second-tier ticketing system.”
Dan Wall, Reside Nation
The U.S. Division of Justice filed a lawsuit in opposition to Reside Nation on Could 23 within the U.S. District Courtroom for the Southern District of New York.
It accuses Reside Nation of “illegally exercising its monopoly energy” in violation of Part 2 of the Sherman Act.
The U.S. Division of Justice stated that on account of its alleged conduct, “music followers in the US had been disadvantaged of ticketing innovation and compelled to make use of outdated expertise whereas paying extra for tickets than followers in different nations.”
Moreover, the DOJ alleges that “Reside Nation-Ticketmaster workouts energy over performers, venues, and unbiased promoters in a way that harms competitors. Reside Nation-Ticketmaster additionally creates obstacles to competitors that restrict the entry and growth of opponents.”international music enterprise
