Freedom Line Blog

In recent weeks we at CFIF have criticized the Biden administration’s indefensible legal crusade against entertainment enterprise Live Nation, which promises nothing but a waste of judicial resources and litigation costs in its attempt to reverse a merger that the very same Department of Justice (DOJ) blessed just a few short years ago.

American Enterprise Institute (AEI) scholar and tech expert Mark Jamison adds his own intellectual heft to the issue in his new commentary “The Government Is Gunning for Live Nation.  It’s Making a Historic Mistake”:

The recent case filed by Department of Justice (DOJ) exemplifies the administration’s tendency to view company breakups as a panacea for perceived market ills.  The DOJ argues that Live Nation’s integration of concerts, event venue ownership, talent agencies and ticketing creates barriers to competition and enables the company to engage in unfair practices.  The DOJ believes that spinning off Ticketmaster, which Live Nation acquired nearly 15 years ago, and Live Nation’s concert venues will foster a more competitive market.

History suggests otherwise.”

Mr. Jamison’s piece merits a full read, but he highlights how American consumers will be the ones to pay the price of this latest misguided activism from the Biden administration:

Live Nation has become the world’s leading provider of live concerts, ticket sales and related services.  Its success stems from innovative integration across multiple business lines, a structure that its competitors want to replicate, according to the DOJ.  The agency contends that this integration is hard to duplicate, so it stifles competition and innovation.  Yet this very structure has driven substantial value for consumers and investors.  The only beneficiaries of breaking up Live Nation would be those less effective competitors who struggle to match its innovations.”  (Emphasis added.)

Well said.