Kobach Secures Landmark Win in Live Nation/Ticketmaster Monopolization Case

Kobach Secures Landmark Win in Live Nation/Ticketmaster Monopolization Case

Jury Finds Live Nation and Ticketmaster Illegally Eliminated Competition, Hurting Fans, Artists, and Competing Venues

Post Date: 04/15/2026 4:09 PM

Kobach Secures Landmark Win in Ticketmaster Monopolization Case

Jury Finds Live Nation and Ticketmaster Illegally Eliminated Competition,

Hurting Fans, Artists, and Competing Venues

TOPEKA – (April 15, 2026) – Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach and a coalition of 33 other attorneys general today won their lawsuit against Live Nation after a jury found that Live Nation and Ticketmaster violated federal and state antitrust laws by eliminating competition and driving up costs for fans, artists, and venues across the country. After a five-week trial, the jury found that Kobach and the coalition successfully proved that Live Nation and Ticketmaster have unlawfully maintained and abused their monopoly power that prevents other ticketing services, venue owners, and concert promoters from successfully competing. As a result, fans were charged drastically higher prices for tickets.

In May 2024, Attorney General Kobach along with a coalition of 40 other states, and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Live Nation, alleging that its control over almost every aspect of the live event business – from venue ownership to event promotion to ticketing services through Ticketmaster – allowed it to raise costs for fans and to artists and to suppress competition. During the trial that began on March 2, DOJ and eight states reached a settlement with Live Nation, which Attorney General Kobach and the coalition of 33 states rejected, choosing to continue litigation.

“There’s a reason why concert ticket prices today are outrageously high – way higher than they were 20 or 30 years ago. It’s because Live Nation and Ticketmaster have been using their monopoly power to rip off consumers and artists. We won in court because the facts are overwhelming. I refused to accept the DOJ’s weak settlement, because Kansas concertgoers deserve lower prices,” Kobach said.

The jury today found Live Nation and Ticketmaster liable for violating federal and state laws by engaging in anticompetitive conduct. The jury found that Ticketmaster unlawfully maintains a monopoly in the market for ticketing services at major concert venues. The jury also found that Live Nation has a monopoly in the market for large amphitheaters used by artists and that Live Nation unlawfully requires artists who use the amphitheaters it owns to also use its event promotion services. In addition, the jury determined that fans have been overcharged for concert tickets at major concert venues across the country.

Having successfully proven their case on liability to the jury, Attorney General Kobach and the coalition will argue for remedies and financial penalties at a separate bench trial.

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News releases issued prior to 2023 are available through an archive hosted by the Kansas State Library.

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