On April 15, a jury found that Live Nation and Ticketmaster had been working as a monopoly. This means that they were the companies making a majority of profit from the ticket selling industry.

In September of 2025, the Federal Trade Commission and seven American states sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation. Ticketmaster is the most used platform for buying live entertainment tickets, and Live Nation works with hundreds of venues across the US to manage or own them.

The FTC suspected that the companies were working together to engage in illegal ticket resale tactics and deceive artists and consumers about ticket price limits.

The FTC complained that they advertised low prices and then allowed the prices to increase tremendously due to hidden fees. They want to make sure fans are getting what they want at a fair price.

The first time Ticketmaster was taken to court was in 2022, when Taylor Swift fans complained that they were kicked out of the queue when the website crashed from too many people buying tickets at once.

“When I was looking at tickets [for the Broadway musical SIX in Chicago], they were only $45 per person,” says Adelynn Kulemeier, an MCHS alum. “My mom said [the total price] was $200. I was like, ‘how is that even possible?’”

According to NPR News, Letitia James, the New York attorney general, made a statement about the recent case, which reads, “A jury found what we have long known to be true: Live Nation and Ticketmaster are breaking the law and costing consumers millions of dollars in the process.”

In the past, Live Nation has denied any claims that it acts as a monopoly with Ticketmaster.

Now it is clear Ticketmaster and Live Nation were intentionally inflating fees, but many people are curious about what will be taken into action after this verdict.

Kuhlemeier mentions that the prices of tickets cause her to miss out on once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

“I really wanted to see The Weeknd … Billie Eilish and Tate McRae,” Kuhlemierer says, “and all of those tickets, for the worst possible seat, were over $200.

According to Pollstar News, ticket-buyers are required to wait for the next step. Arun Subarmanian, U.S. District Court Judge, will decide the solution.

Based on a jury recommendation, stated in Pollstar News, Rosa M. Abrantes-Metz assumes that $1.72 per ticket at 257 venues over the last five years will be owed, which places Live Nation and Ticketmaster’s dues at around $450 million.

“With all of the unnecessary fees,” Kuhlemeier says, “it’s just a scam.”