In November 2022, 14 million Taylor Swift fans tried to buy Eras Tour tickets. 3.5 billion requests hit Ticketmaster's servers. The site collapsed. Millions were locked out. And when Congress demanded answers, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino — who made $139 million that year — didn't even show up.
But that disaster exposed something far worse.
The Department of Justice has now filed an antitrust lawsuit backed by 40 states, accusing Live Nation and Ticketmaster of running an illegal monopoly. The evidence includes internal documents showing Ticketmaster built a secret platform FOR scalpers, rejected security measures because they were "too effective," and systematically crushed any venue that tried to use a competitor.
In this video, we break down:
→ How the 2010 merger created a monopoly controlling 80%+ of concert ticketing
→ The "flywheel" business model that makes competition impossible
→ Internal documents where executives called themselves a "pimp" for Live Nation
→ The TradeDesk scandal — Ticketmaster's secret scalper tool
→ Why dynamic pricing made Oasis tickets double while fans waited in queue
→ The DOJ lawsuit heading to trial in March 2026
The fine print they don't want you to read.
SOURCES & FURTHER READING:
DOJ Antitrust Lawsuit (May 2024):
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-live-nation-ticketmaster-monopolizing-markets-across-live-concert
FTC Lawsuit (September 2025):
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/09/ftc-sues-live-nation-ticketmaster
Senate Judiciary Hearing (January 2023):
https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-activity/hearings/thats-the-ticket-promoting-competition-and-protecting-consumers-in-live-entertainment
CBC TradeDesk Investigation (2018):
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/ticketmaster-resellers-las-vegas-1.4828535
#ticketmaster #livenation #taylorswift #erastourtour #monopoly #doj #antitrust #concerttickets #scalpers #exposed
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