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Ticketmaster is Finally Getting What it Deserves
Ticketmaster is Finally Getting What it Deserves
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0:00
You know that feeling right before you hit “checkout”… like something
0:03
about the price just isn’t adding up? Turns out, you weren’t imagining it.
0:07
A federal jury in Manhattan just confirmed it. Ticketmaster has
0:11
been secretly adding a hidden ‘monopoly tax’, about $1.72, on tickets at major US venues.
0:18
So while you were saving up, budgeting, making it work just to see your favorite artist,
0:22
Ticketmaster executives were laughing, calling fans ‘stupid’ and openly
0:27
boasting about ‘robbing them blind.’ This wasn’t a one-time thing. This was
0:31
happening every single time. Now… Ticketmaster is finally
0:35
getting what it deserves. Chapter 1 - The $1.72 Receipt
0:39
On April 15th, 2026, something happened that live music fans have been waiting years to see.
0:45
A federal jury in New York delivered a verdict against entertainment giant Live Nation and
0:50
its subsidiary, Ticketmaster. They were found liable for running an illegal monopoly over the
0:55
live events and ticketing industry, violating both federal and state antitrust laws in the process.
1:00
Ticketmaster had been overcharging and essentially stealing from fans for years.
1:05
$1.72 per ticket. It doesn’t sound like much.
1:09
You can’t even buy a coffee for that. But this isn’t about an individual charge.
1:13
It’s about that small fee being applied over and over again. It was a massive
1:17
windfall of pure monopoly profit. And it was coming straight out of fans’ bank accounts.
1:22
It was a racket. One that was going on for years. Live Nation and Ticketmaster made millions of
1:28
dollars through this sneaky tactic. It was going into their bank account.
1:32
Not the artists. Not the road crews, management teams, agents, or even the venues that host them.
1:38
That’s why the jury’s decision matters so much. Because this wasn’t just a legal defeat for Live
1:43
Nation and Ticketmaster. It was an unmasking of a long-running financial crime that had
1:48
been hiding in plain sight, all this time. For years, fans were treated like fools.
1:53
They were lied to. They were told that rising ticket prices were the result of
1:57
vague ‘market forces’ or ‘economic changes.’ They were deceived into thinking that rising
2:02
production costs or money-hungry artists were the reason they had to spend more on concert tickets.
2:06
This verdict collapses the foundations propping up that pack of lies.
2:10
After reviewing thousands of pages of financial records, ledgers, and internal communications,
2:15
the jury had zero doubt. This wasn’t about inflation. It wasn’t about artist demands.
2:20
It was all about Ticketmaster and Live Nation exploiting fans any way they could.
2:25
Evidence proved that the $1.72 wasn’t tied to any real service,
2:29
cost, or innovation at all. Ticketmaster and Live Nation weren’t providing anything in exchange for
2:34
that money. It was a forced overcharge by a company that knew it had total control.
2:39
If you wanted to see a major artist in a big venue, there was no way around it.
2:43
You had to pay. But if they can extract
2:46
$1.72 from every ticket and no one stops it, what else are they hiding in the math?
2:52
Chapter 2 - The 'Flywheel' of Doom The reason Ticketmaster was able to
2:56
enforce this hidden charge - and make it impossible for fans to avoid - comes
3:00
down to something called the ‘Flywheel.’ It’s what Live Nation calls their system
3:04
internally. A connected web of businesses… and the core of this entire story.
3:09
In a healthy hypothetical market, companies play their own distinct roles. Promoters work on
3:14
marketing shows and generating ticket sales. Then there are the companies that own and manage the
3:19
venues where performers can appear. There are the people responsible for selling tickets, and others
3:24
that handle parking, hospitality, and so on. Lots of different players, each with their
3:29
own values, policies, and priorities. They’re separate entities, but they all
3:33
operate on the same stage. They work and negotiate with each other to form a complex system of checks
3:38
and balances. One that’s meant to keep prices competitive for the customer. When multiple
3:43
companies operate in the same industry, they naturally compete with each other,
3:46
and to some extent, keep each other in check. If a ticketing company charges unnecessary fees,
3:51
venues might decide not to work with it. They have plenty of other options to choose from, after all.
3:57
If a promoter is abusive or exploitative, artists can choose to work with a different
4:01
one. Or if a venue gets a bad reputation, then tour organizers will avoid it in the future.
4:06
It’s competition that provides the pressure and incentive for companies to operate to
4:11
certain standards. And it’s competition that keeps prices reasonably fair for the fans.
4:16
Businesses know that if they set their rates too high, their rivals will undercut them.
4:20
But that’s not at all how the market works under Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
4:25
The ‘Flywheel’ was laid bare for all to see during the trial. And the evidence
4:29
was startling. Live Nation doesn’t just play a part in the ticketing industry…
4:34
It is the ticketing industry. Its sprawling web of tendrils reaches
4:38
every element of the entertainment world. It manages the artists. It promotes the
4:42
tours. It holds exclusive long-term deals with the biggest venues. And of course,
4:47
via Ticketmaster, it sells the tickets. Live Nation controls 86% of primary ticketing
4:52
at major venues across the United States. It’s a monopoly.
4:56
It’s not just in ticketing where Live Nation’s influence is felt.
5:00
It also runs 70% of the promotion market for major tours, along with large parts of other sub-markets
5:06
that make up the ticketing and events industries. When you have one company controlling the supply,
5:11
the infrastructure, and the point of sale, the idea of “competition” and
5:15
“fairness” starts to sound like fiction. How can any company compete with them?
5:20
Prosecutors argued during the case that a new company couldn’t just make a better app or offer
5:25
less fees. It would have to literally build its own venues and sign its own artists just
5:30
to get close to competing with Live Nation. That’s the power of the flywheel in action.
5:35
Every spoke strengthens the next. By owning the venues, Live Nation
5:39
could secure promotion. By securing promotion, it became the de facto source for ticketing. And by
5:44
running the vast majority of ticket sales, it was able to maintain its venue control.
5:49
The wheel comes full circle. The company could sign a new
5:52
artist to a management deal, then use its promotion arm to book shows for that artist
5:57
at Live Nation-owned venues across America. Those venues could then be forced to use Ticketmaster
6:03
as their one and only ticketing platform, and the $1.72 monopoly tax could easily be imposed.
6:09
None of this was an accident or a by-product of market conditions.
6:13
It was a weaponized system, designed to trap consumers.
6:17
The executives knew exactly what they were doing, the entire time.
6:21
And it got personal. Chapter 3 - The Leaked Slack Tapes
6:25
In March 2026, a series of court filings revealed confidential Slack communications
6:30
between Live Nation ticketing executives. Among them were messages from Ben Baker,
6:34
the head of ticketing for Live Nation venues. They revealed the ugly truth about the
6:39
higher-ups at the company and how they viewed their customers. In one message,
6:43
Baker said, “These people are so stupid. I almost feel bad taking advantage of them.”
6:48
He also admitted to “robbing them blind, baby,” and took delight in imposing extortionate
6:53
fees for the most basic of services. “I charge $50 to park in the grass,
6:58
lmao,” Baker said in one exchange with fellow Live Nation employee Jeff Weinhold,
7:03
adding, “I charge $60 for closer grass.” Baker and other ticketing employees wondered how
7:09
high they could price different tiers of parking while still getting people to pay for them. He
7:14
joked about how “oversize” parking was available for $100... while Jeff Weinhold went on to set
7:19
rates of $250 for “VIP” parking at another event. Defending himself in court, Baker argued “there’s
7:27
no excuse for the language,” which he described as “very regrettable, immature language.” But he
7:32
argued he was just expressing his “surprise” at how much people were willing to pay for
7:37
services they didn’t necessarily need. And it wasn’t just the language of the
7:42
messages that shocked people; it was the culture behind them.
7:45
The leaks showed the whole world what Baker and his fellow executives thought about music lovers
7:50
and event goers. Their messages didn’t involve them working out ways to offer quality services,
7:55
fair prices, and experiences for the average fan. They weren’t
7:59
discussing how to level up their brand. This wasn’t just about making money.
8:03
It was about exploitation followed by ridicule. Every company exists to profit, but the methods
8:09
described inside Live Nation were something else entirely.
8:12
With monopoly control over the market, Live Nation had no incentive to hold back. Instead,
8:17
it leaned into what critics describe as “ancillary gouging tactics”, driving up
8:22
the price of everything around the ticket itself. It wasn’t just tickets and transport.
8:27
Fans were hit with a growing list of extra costs: premium parking tiers, VIP upgrades, add-ons,
8:33
“bonus” packages, optional extras. It didn’t stop.
8:37
The list kept growing in size and price. These executives weren’t just greedy.
8:42
They viewed their customers with nothing but contempt and thought they could get away with it.
8:47
But, in the end, their arrogance caught the attention of the one group they couldn’t buy off.
8:52
Chapter 4 - The Hush Money Settlement For years, the arrogance of those
8:56
Live Nation executives made sense. Because they got away with their crimes.
9:00
Year after year, they continued to squeeze more and more money out of
9:03
their customers. The Ticketmaster machine rumbled along and event goers were left with
9:08
no other option but to climb aboard. But in May 2024, the wheels fell off.
9:13
The US Department of Justice (DOJ), together with 30 state and district attorneys general,
9:17
filed an antitrust lawsuit. They alleged that Live Nation held an unfair and unlawful
9:22
monopoly in the live event sector. Several other attorneys general, representing other states,
9:27
later joined the lawsuit. At last, it looked like the
9:30
company might actually face consequences. It took time for both sides to prepare
9:34
their cases, but on March 2nd, 2026, the trial officially began. However, just days into the
9:40
proceedings, on March 9th, the DOJ announced that it had cut a deal with Live Nation. The company
9:45
would pay a $280 million settlement fund, which would then be divided among participating states.
9:51
To an average person, $280 million sounds like a huge sum. But for a company that
9:57
makes literally billions of dollars in revenue every year, it’s barely a drop in the ocean.
10:03
Data from 2023 shows that Live Nation reported $22.7 billion in revenue. In that year alone.
10:10
$280 million is less than 1.5% of the company’s annual revenue.
10:15
That’s someone getting a $600 parking ticket when they make $50,000 a year.
10:20
It hardly seems like a punishment. It doesn’t seem to be any sort of deterrent, either.
10:25
If Live Nation knows it can get away with ripping people off and only has to pay a tiny fraction of
10:29
the profits back, then it’ll keep doing it. It wasn’t a penalty.
10:33
It’s just the cost of doing business. It was a way for the corporation to
10:37
maintain its monopoly, prevent any further investigation into its underhanded tactics,
10:41
and get back to the business of exploitation. Except… that’s not what happened.
10:46
Because when the DOJ failed to deliver, the individual states stepped up to the plate.
10:51
A bipartisan coalition of 34 state attorneys general looked at the federal government’s
10:55
settlement and collectively shook their heads. They weren’t interested in giving Live Nation
10:59
a slap on the wrist. They understood that a small fine isn’t how you smash a monopoly.
11:05
They wanted to see exactly how this company operated.
11:07
They wanted to look at the inner workings of the so-called ‘Flywheel,’ see exactly how much
11:12
the organization was overcharging people, and how they’d gotten away with it for so long.
11:18
So, they demanded a full trial. Chapter 5 - The Moat Around the Castle
11:22
During the trial, Live Nation’s defense largely boiled down to one simple narrative:
11:27
“We’re the biggest because we’re the best.” The company argued that its huge size,
11:31
success, and monopoly were all the result of it simply being good at what it did.
11:35
Its excellence propelled it to the top of the food chain in all key areas of the live
11:40
events industry. People naturally flocked to Ticketmaster because of its technology and
11:44
interface. When artists wanted to plan and promote their tours, they turned to Live Nation because of
11:49
its global reach and proven pedigree. It was a compelling argument,
11:53
but not one that stood up to scrutiny. The evidence proved that Live Nation wasn’t
11:58
really relying on “excellence” or “superiority” in its services to maintain its massive market share.
12:03
Instead, it relied on retaliation. After analyzing 257 major venues across the
12:09
United States, the prosecution team found a clear and consistent pattern of corporate bullying.
12:14
If a venue considered moving its ticketing contract to one of Ticketmaster’s competitors,
12:19
like AEG or SeatGeek, Live Nation would, effectively, threaten them.
12:24
They would issue a message along the lines of “If you don’t use Ticketmaster,
12:28
then our artists won’t play at your venue.” By controlling or restricting access to top
12:32
talent, Live Nation was able to hold venues to ransom.
12:36
One key piece of testimony showed that Live Nation didn’t just compete with venues,
12:40
it actively tracked them. When an independent venue started gaining momentum - selling more
12:45
tickets and outperforming expectations - executives would allegedly step in.
12:50
They would use aggressive tactics to redirect tours away from the venue or pressure them
12:54
into joining the Ticketmaster system. They would use any method to prevent a
12:59
competitor from even touching its market share. Unfortunately for Live Nation, the jury saw right
13:04
through it. And that led to a landmark decision that could trigger the biggest
13:08
corporate execution in modern history. Chapter 6 - The Corporate Collapse
13:13
The verdict was both unanimous and devastating for Live Nation.
13:17
The jury found the company, and its subsidiary Ticketmaster, liable for all federal and state
13:22
law claims of monopolistic behavior and illegal restraint of trade. n the corporate world,
13:27
those kinds of verdicts are a death sentence. But cases of this size are complicated and
13:33
take time to reach their true conclusions. Even when juries have issued their verdicts,
13:37
that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s over. Live Nation still has the right to appeal
13:41
and will likely do so. But overturning the jury’s decision might be difficult. There’s
13:46
simply too much evidence, building a clear, detailed picture of how the company operated.
13:51
Eventually, the court will decide how to remedy the harm and compensate those affected. There are
13:55
a few possible outcomes. A structural remedy would force the company to sell off assets or
14:00
break up parts of its business. A behavioral remedy would impose new rules on how it can
14:05
operate going forward. And a monetary remedy would require it to pay financial
14:09
compensation to those who were harmed. Much rests on the shoulders of the judge.
14:14
He will be the one to ultimately decide how this case ends.
14:17
The states have made their position clear. They want to see the Live Nation monopoly
14:21
torn apart and force the sale of Ticketmaster, breaking that closed loop, ‘Flywheel’ system
14:27
that allowed it to gain so much power. Live Nation, meanwhile, has tried to
14:30
argue for a settlement. But the panic among its executives is spreading.
14:34
Share prices for Live Nation fell over 6% after the verdict was announced,
14:38
while the shares for rival firms, like StubHub, rose. Investors are already backing out, aware of
14:44
what this verdict signals. The monopoly may have lasted for years, but now it’s tumbling down.
14:50
The battle for the future of the live events industry, meanwhile, is only just beginning.
14:54
Chapter 7 - The Fan’s Revenge This case is about so much more
14:58
than ticket fees or parking prices. It’s about how much power corporations
15:02
have and whether everyday people, and state governments, can actually hold them accountable.
15:07
In this case, the fans won. And they did so thanks to something
15:10
that big businesses detest: specifics. It would have been easy for Live Nation
15:15
to leverage its power to shout down claims about “higher prices” or vague
15:19
claims of “market dominance.” So the states came prepared.
15:23
They shared real numbers, real data, real specifics.
15:26
Not just “excess charges,” but $1.72 on tickets. Not just a “monopoly,” but 86%
15:34
control of major event venues. Not just rumors about a toxic company culture, but
15:39
genuine Slack messages where executives laughed about how much money they’re taking from people.
15:44
And, through all this, a blueprint has been set. If any other company tries something similar, the
15:49
justice system knows exactly how to handle them. That’s important.
15:53
But nobody is under any illusions here. A single verdict isn’t going to fix the entire
15:57
industry or bring about fairer rates. But it does set a powerful precedent. It gives future courts
16:03
and claimants the strength and solid backing they need to hold these corporations accountable.
16:07
Live Nation’s monopoly has been outed. It’s no longer just a “fear” that people
16:12
get when they’re buying tickets and feel as though they’re being made to pay over the odds.
16:16
It’s real. As for the future, that all depends on what
16:19
happens next. The market wasn’t strong enough to discipline the Live Nation monopoly. But the court
16:24
of law has the power to dismantle it entirely. The only question left is whether
16:29
or not it will choose to do so. If it does, then nothing will be the same again.
16:33
It might not be perfect, but it would be a whole lot fairer.
16:36
If one corporation like Live Nation can grow this powerful under everyone’s watch
16:41
then what else is going on in the background. Find out in “Secret RICH Families Controlling
16:46
the Economy” to see the kind of power that shapes our world. Or watch this video instead.
Ticketmaster is Finally Getting What it Deserves - Video học tiếng Anh
