Jurors find Live Nation, Ticketmaster guilty of monopoly

(The Center Square) – Jurors on Wednesday found Live Nation and subsidiary Ticketmaster guilty of illegal monopoly in North Carolina and other states.

“This was one of the biggest antitrust cases in years,” said first-term Democratic Attorney General Jeff Jackson, successor to former Attorney General Josh Stein who joined the state into a litigation with more than 30 other prosecutors. “When the United States Department of Justice announced in March that it had cut a deal with Live Nation and Ticketmaster behind the backs of the attorneys general, I rejected their secret deal because it failed to address sky-high ticket prices for concertgoers. We wanted the jury to hear the evidence and see what consumers have known for years.

“Every fan who’s watched prices pile up on a concert ticket just got proof they were right to feel mistreated by a monopoly. That’s exactly what was happening.”

Officially known as United States v. Live Nation Entertainment and filed in the U.S. District Court for the Souther...