On April 15, 2026, a jury in federal court for the Southern District of New York returned a unanimous verdict on all counts in favor of a coalition of 33 states and the District of Columbia in their landmark monopolization case against the live entertainment industry giants Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ), which later settled, and a coalition of state attorneys general retained Nicholas Hill as their economic expert on liability issues. Dr. Hill examined, among other things, the competitive effects of Live Nation entering into long-term exclusive contracts with major concert venues, conditioning the provision of concerts on venues’ use of Ticketmaster, acquiring control of additional large amphitheaters over time, and leveraging its control over large amphitheaters to pressure artists to use its promotion services.
His analysis found that there are relevant antitrust markets for primary ticketing and primary concert ticketing to major concert venues and for artists’ use of large amphitheaters in the United States. Dr. Hill testified at trial that Live Nation and Ticketmaster possess substantial market power, with a market share exceeding 70 percent in each of those markets. Further, he opined that Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s conduct reduced competition and harmed artists, major concert venues, and fans. The slides from Dr. Hill’s testimony are publicly available here.
After a six-week trial that was closely followed by national media, the jury reached a unanimous decision, finding that Live Nation and Ticketmaster illegally maintained their monopolies in each relevant market through anticompetitive conduct, that Live Nation illegally tied artists’ access to its large amphitheaters to their use of its promotion services, and that Live Nation violated several state-level competition laws. The jury awarded damages to the plaintiff states on behalf of fans who were overcharged for concert tickets at major concert venues. The full verdict form is available here.
The verdict marks another successful collaboration between Bates White, the DOJ, and state attorneys general, who have worked together on several high-profile cases in recent years. The next phase of the case will involve determination of appropriate remedies.
Dr. Hill was supported by a team that included Morgan Ackley, Gary Baker, Sienna Blelloch, Asher Desai, Kayuna Fukushima, Andrew Joyner, Michelle Lam, Richard Langford, Michael Logue, Dennis McWeeny, Daniel Ober-Reynolds, Allison Zalazar, and Jeff Zhang.
The team
Principal
Partner
Principal
Partner
Principal
The team also includes
- Manager
- Manager
- Senior Consultant
- Senior Consultant
- Manager
- Senior Economist
- Manager
- Manager
- Senior Economist
