OPINION:
Ten more states have joined an antitrust lawsuit by the Department of Justice against Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s parent company. This brings the total to 39 states plus the District of Columbia. They allege that Ticketmaster is a monopoly and should be broken up.
Some may be sympathetic to the government’s case. Everyone would like to see lower ticket prices, and there is considerable lingering frustration over the Taylor Swift ticket disaster of 2020. Yet this particular case against Ticketmaster seems more likely to be an extension of a prolonged crusade against large businesses rather than an opportunity to deliver a win for consumers.
DOJ and its antitrust partner in crime, the Federal Trade Commission, have been on an antitrust rampage — filing suits against every industry under the sun — including tech, supermarkets, high fashion and sandwich shops. They have abandoned the notion that antitrust enforcement should be used to protect consumers and have instead launched suit after suit against companies because they thought they were “too big.”
Together, DOJ and the FTC have sought to block the Kroger-Albertsons supermarket merger despite a pledge by Kroger to cut prices by $1 billion. They have gone after Amazon, which has the lowest prices in the retail industry. Somewhat comically, they have tried to block the merger of two luxury fashion companies that sell $4,400 shoes and $3,000 handbags to movie stars and Manhattan socialites. As The Wall Street Journal jests, this case was filed “in the name of protecting America’s working class.”
This hyper-aggressive approach has come at a cost to both taxpayers — by using public funds that could have been better spent to actually help consumers — and businesses — by forcing them to hire expensive legal teams to fight frivolous lawsuits instead of investing in their companies and workers.
Yet the administration has been racking up loss after loss, getting beaten repeatedly in the courts until recently when a federal judge ruled against Google. Now, the administration’s antitrust enforcers feel the wind at their backs and will be further emboldened to continue targeting more companies. It seems that no company is safe from these overzealous agencies.
Needless to say, this is troubling news for taxpayers — especially as these agencies shift away from efforts to protect consumers toward other, more ideological goals.
This represents a gross abuse of the government’s antitrust powers. DOJ and the FTC must focus on pursuing cases that benefit consumers. In the case against Ticketmaster, it’s far from clear that is the motivating factor.
Smashing one large ticket and entertainment company into smithereens wouldn’t change the fundamental reason ticket prices are so high: consumer demand.
A Vox article sums it up nicely, stating that “the heart of the matter is simple: demand. People all over the world are clamoring to go to just a handful of the most popular artists’ concerts. Live Nation reported that 145 million people attended one of its shows in 2023, compared to 98 million in 2019. The momentum doesn’t appear to be slowing, with ticket sales in the first quarter of 2024 higher than they were this time last year.”
In other words, as long as consumer demand for the top concerts continues to rise, so will ticket prices. DOJ needs to be far more thoughtful in its approach to this case, carefully protecting the rights of consumers without imposing heavy mandates that would hurt performers, venues and ticket sellers.
Furthermore, it shouldn’t allow the suit to devolve into a financial free-for-all for state governments. As noted in the New York Post, states clearly have a profit incentive to join the federal case: “By adding claims under the federal anti-monopoly law, states can seek three times the monetary damages.”
While they claim they are seeking remedies on behalf of consumers, it’s not clear that consumers will receive a penny of any financial award to state governments.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, for instance, is seeking $1 million per violation of New York law. She said: “Through this version of the amended lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster, my office is seeking to recover damages for New York consumers who were overcharged by Live Nation and Ticketmaster.”
Yet she has not made it clear how — or if — any of these funds would flow to consumers. It sounds more like an opportunity for New York to squeeze more cash out of a big company than a legitimate effort to help aggrieved consumers.
Protecting consumers is an important role for the federal and state governments. Yet the recent surge in antitrust actions is moving away from this objective. Governments must stop abusing their antitrust authority and shift their focus to helping consumers and taxpayers.
• Brandon Arnold is executive vice president of the National Taxpayers Union.
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