Republican state attorneys general are blasting the Justice Department’s abrupt settlement with Live Nation and Ticketmaster, warning the deal leaves the entertainment giant’s dominance largely intact and vowing to continue the antitrust fight.
“Our resolve has not wavered,” said Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti (R). “We are proud to stand with a powerful core of conservative AGs and bipartisan partners from across the country committed to continuing the fight against Ticketmaster/Live Nation.”
Skrmetti was not alone. The settlement stunned many of the coalition of states that had joined the federal government in pursuing the case. 25 of those states, including those led by Republican attorneys general, have now moved for a mistrial, arguing the federal government’s sudden withdrawal from the case undermines the ongoing litigation.
Republican attorneys general participating in the litigation alongside Skrmetti include Ohio’s Dave Yost, Utah’s Derek Brown, and Wyoming’s Bridget Hill.
In a court filing, the states warned that the “sudden disappearance” of the United States from the case could mislead jurors into believing Live Nation’s alleged antitrust violations had been resolved or that the remaining state claims lacked merit.
The states said they were “kept in the dark and excluded materially from settlement discussions” while preparing for trial. According to the filing, they were notified of the near-final terms of the agreement at 4:00 p.m. on March 5 and given just one day to decide whether to accept or reject it.
Judge Arun Subramanian, the federal judge overseeing the government’s antitrust case, also delivered a sharp rebuke after the DOJ settled the case, warning the deal showed “absolute disrespect” for the court and the legal process.
Conservative commentator Laura Loomer described the agreement as “another big win for lobbyists.”
Critics argue the settlement leaves Live Nation’s market power largely intact.
The agreement reportedly includes a $280 million fund for states, a figure some industry observers say is insignificant for a company of Live Nation’s scale.
“Live Nation’s reported settlement amount — $280 million — is the equivalent of 4 days of their 2025 revenue, which means they could potentially make it back by this Friday,” Stephen Parker, executive director of the National Independent Venue Association, wrote in a statement. “The reported settlement does not appear to include any specific and explicit protections for fans, artists, or independent venues and festivals.”
Critics also note that the agreement appears to stop short of any structural reforms, such as forcing Live Nation to divest assets or separate its ticketing and promotion businesses — remedies many antitrust experts say are necessary to meaningfully address the company’s dominance.
Reports do not indicate that the settlement prevents Ticketmaster from continuing to use its SafeTix technology unchecked, which has been criticized for making it difficult for consumers to use any other ticketing company.
“The DOJ cites internal Ticketmaster documents that say the company expected SafeTix to increase the ‘size/value of the TM database’ by as much as 30 to 40 percent,” wrote Roslyn Layton, a non-resident senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, in a 2024 analysis. “The antitrust complaint says it’s one of several tactics that allow Live Nation ‘to both increase its bottom line and further entrench its positions across the live entertainment industry.’”
With states signaling they intend to continue litigation and the judge openly criticizing the process, the abrupt settlement has thrown the future of the high-profile antitrust case into uncertainty and raised new questions about whether Live Nation’s dominance in the live entertainment industry will ever face meaningful scrutiny.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
