Liberal activists pressure Biden’s Justice Department for a new antitrust crackdown

Liberal critics of Big Tech have a new target they want to see smashed to bits: Ticketmaster.

They argue Democrats have neglected antitrust issues for too long and intend to force the Biden administration to take action against the ticket distributor via the #BreakUpTicketmaster campaign that is being spearheaded by American Economic Liberties Project.

The campaign includes a video in which writer Cory Doctorow says Democrats bear some of the responsibility for the monopolies he sees growing all around him.

“The Democratic Party platform didn’t even mention antitrust once between 1992 and 2016,” Mr. Doctorow said in the video. “This is what allowed for the growth of monopolies in every industry — meatpacking, tech, banking finance, eyeglasses, cheerleading, beer, and in 2010, the music industry.”

The goal of #BreakUpTicketmaster is to get the Justice Department to intervene in Ticketmaster’s business and break up its 2010 merger with Live Nation. The merger led to Ticketmaster controlling an estimated 70% of the primary ticketing and live events market, which the ticket giant’s opponents say is bad for consumers.

High ticket prices, fees and poor treatment of entertainers and fans can all be traced back to the 2010 merger, according to the anti-Ticketmaster campaign.

American Economic Liberties Project executive director Sarah Miller recently sent an email urging her activist network to send messages to the Justice Department requesting an investigation into Ticketmaster and antitrust action to break it up.

“While concertgoers’ taste in music may differ and sports fans may cheer for different teams, there’s one thing we can all agree on — it’s time to break up Ticketmaster,” Ms. Miller said.

Approximately 4,000 letters were sent to the Justice Department in the first 24 hours after the campaign launched, according to American Economic Liberties Project senior analyst Krista Brown.

Alongside the project are groups such as the Sports Fans Coalition, the Consumer Federation of America, the National Consumers League, and More Perfect Union, which made the video featuring Mr. Doctorow. The American Economic Liberties Project declined to say how much money would be spent on the campaign.

The activists point to ticket prices for a recent Bruce Springsteen concert tour as an example of the problem they see with Ticketmaster’s preeminence in the marketplace.

Some of the musician’s fans complained of seeing $5,000 ticket prices per seat to attend a Springsteen concert this summer, which appeared to be the result of a Ticketmaster tool using dynamic pricing to adjust the cost of a ticket in relation to changing supply and demand in the market.

“How can Ticketmaster get away with it?” Mr. Doctorow asked in the #BreakUpTicketmaster campaign video. “Because they are the bullies of the music industry playground.”

Ticketmaster challenged the prevalence of the tool in statistics it provided to Variety in July. The company said more than 88% of tickets sold were at fixed values of approximately $60 to $400 before fees and that a majority of tickets were sold for under $200.

Still, the $5,000 price tag also rankled Democratic lawmakers who have Ticketmaster in their crosshairs. Rep. Bill Pascrell, New Jersey Democrat, wrote to Live Nation in August demanding more details about the pricing and previously sent a letter to federal antitrust enforcers in March requesting they break up Ticketmaster and Live Nation.

Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota also wrote to the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division in March requesting an investigation into Live Nation.

“Multiple reports indicate the industry is rife with practices that prevent consumers from accessing tickets at affordable prices or prevent access entirely, including holdbacks and staggering sales, bots, lack of all-in pricing, and the reselling of free tickets,” the senators wrote in a letter to the Justice Department.

Other factors harming the ticketing industry for live events in recent years include COVID-19 restrictions alongside the pandemic. The live events industry saw a $30 billion loss in 2020 alone attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to concert trade publication Pollstar.

Secondary sellers of tickets for events have not disappeared as a result of the pandemic and include prominent names such as StubHub, SeatGeek and Gametime.

Ticketmaster and the Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.