The Obama-era DOJ cleared that $2.5 billion purchase under a consent decree requiring the merged company to sell off assets and to license certain software to a competitor. It also included conduct commitments prohibiting Live Nation from retaliating against or threatening concert venues for using another ticketing provider for 10 years, commitments the DOJ said in December 2019 that Live Nation had violated, forcing the company the following month to extend the agreement for an additional five and a half years.
The DOJ had called the deal extension, and tweaks, the “most significant enforcement action” the agency had taken on an existing antitrust consent decree in 20 years. The modifications were meant to clarify what type of conduct Live Nation is prohibited from engaging in when it comes to concert venues, and to allow for easier detection and enforcement if future violations occur.
The changes included adding language that expressly prohibited Live Nation from withholding concerts from a venue if the venue chooses a ticketing provider other than Ticketmaster, and from threatening to withhold concerts.
