The Department of Justice should reject the proposed Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger, according to an analysis of the deal conducted by The American Antitrust Institute, adding a fresh voice to a growing chorus that has come out against the deal.
“If the merger proceeds, the benefits from competition that has been blooming [between Live Nation and Ticketmaster] in the last 18 months will likely be lost, pathways to new competition will be blocked, and the industry will be dominated at almost all levels by a single massive entity,” the AAI concluded in a 58-page white paper.
Moreover, the AAI said Live Nation Entertainment, as the merged company is to be called, will be “operating free of significant competition [and] would charge prices above those that would prevail in a competitive market, and that consumers would have little recourse but to pay that price or not attend at all.”
That conclusion is likely to add new pressure on regulators to scuttle the deal, which has already drawn jeers from politicians, artists, consumers and competitors.
According to the report, Live Nation Entertainment would effectively control the markets for primary ticket sales, secondary ticket sales, artist management, performance-venue management and live event promotion. It would also benefit from what’s known in antitrust parlance as “monopsony power” — or power stemming from its position as a buyer.
“The merger would confer on Live Nation Entertainment the capacity to give favorable deals to its own artists and venues and impose less unfavorable terms on independent managers, promoters and venues,” according to the report.
Regulators often seek to impose behavioral conditions or asset sales as a prerequisite to approval, and Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff has signaled that he would be willing to sell the company’s TicketsNow.com reseller unit for the right price.