Congressman Bill Pascrell, Democratic representative for New Jersey's 9th congressional district, is calling for Live Nation Entertainment to be broken up over safety and monopolization concerns. According to a report by the New York Post, Pascrell originally wrote to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in March of this year saying that mergers should be easier to overturn. Pascrell's reasoning was that the 2010 merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster was bad for competition and caused a lapse in safety measurements at events.
"The union of Live Nation and Ticketmaster is a posterchild of consolidation gone bad," said Pascrell in his letter. "When Live Nation, the nation's biggest concert promoter, and Ticketmaster, the largest ticket provider sought to combine, they assured regulators that their fusion would promote competition in the live events marketplace. Several members of Congress, including myself, vocally disagreed. We practically begged President Obama's administration to stop the deal."
Pascrell later added that Obama's top antitrust regulator assured government officials that there "will be enough air and sunlight in the space for strong competitors to take root, grow, and thrive." Pascrell disagreed, saying there are still no strong competitors against the Live Nation and Ticketmaster ticketing behemoth (now under the name Live Nation Entertainment).
Pascrell has since cited tragedies like Travis Scott's Astroworld Festival, where 10 people died and hundreds were injuries as crowds got out of control. Despite the incidents, Live Nation Entertainment has only continued to grow financially.
"About 200 deaths and 750 injuries occurred at Live Nation events since 2006," said Pascrell. "Have safety measures not improved? Has Live Nation silenced organizers? I want answers. I think the public deserves to know."
Mark Perry of American Enterprise Institute penned a similar letter published by The Hill, saying that Live Nation Entertainment currently owns 70% market share of the concert ticket market and 80% of ticket distribution for stadiums and arenas in the United States. Perry concluded his letter, saying "With live events back, Washington should not miss this opportunity to fix what is broken in live event ticketing."
