Tickemaster/Livenation Merger News
TicketNews Radar
Most Popular Stories
- Super Bowl ticket prices remain high despite fluctuations
- Red Sox implement digital ticketing to keep ticket prices low
- North Carolina venue looks to block ticket resale
- Bruce Springsteen confirms U.S. tour dates for 'Wrecking Ball'
- Bruce Springsteen, The Fray tickets on sale throughout the weekend
- WillCall designed to help fans buy tickets last minute
- Giants Super Bowl ticket lottery winners an elite club
- Tigers ticket sales skyrocket after Fielder signing
- Electronic dance music carves new niche in market
- Police arrest 97 for Olympics-related offenses including ticket resale
Most Recent Comments
- WillCall designed to help fans buy tickets last minute
1 day ago - Ticketmaster integrates Facebook app with Spotify
1 day ago - Legend of Zelda hits the road with symphony tour
3 days ago - Giants Super Bowl ticket lottery winners an elite club
3 days ago - Bruce Springsteen confirms U.S. tour dates for 'Wrecking Ball'
5 days ago
DOJ antitrust head Christine Varney steps down
Christine Varney, the assistant attorney general who ran the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division, is stepping down from her post. Varney ran the division during the federal review of the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger, and according to the Wall Street Journal, she is resigning in August to join the prestigious New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. During Varney's tenure at the top of the antitrust division, the DOJ took an aggressive approach to investigating mergers, and in the case of the Ticketmaster/Live Nation deal, the DOJ required several concessions from the two before the department would approve the agreement.
Azoff, Rapino rake in combined $38.7 million from Live Nation in 2010
Live Nation Chairman Irving Azoff and President and CEO Michael Rapino made a combined $38.7 million in compensation from the company in 2010, according to the Wall Street Journal and financial filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rapino received $15.9 million in total compensation, while Azoff received $22.8 million. The pair's separate compensation packages increased in 2010 and included salary, stock and certain incentive bonuses, which were partly tied to the completion and performance of the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger. The compensation packages grew despite the company's increased net loss and declining operating income, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Live Nation stock price drops 3 percent following AEG / Outbox news
Shares of Live Nation stock, which trades under the symbol LYV, dropped 3 percent today, February 3, following reports that rival Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) was partnering with Outbox Technology to sell tickets.
At the close of financial markets today, Live Nation stock was selling for $10.43, down $0.33 from the morning's opening price of $10.76. At one point during the day, the stock had fallen to $10.26 per share, and at no point did it rise above the opening price. The stock's 52-week low is $8.17 and its high was $16.90.
AEG teams with Outbox Technology to compete with Ticketmaster on ticketing
Ever since the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger was approved, the ticketing industry waited to see what Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) would do with the Justice Department's blessing to create a ticketing operation to compete with Ticketmaster. This week, the industry got its answer with the news that AEG was teaming with former Ticketmaster CEO Fred Rosen and Outbox Technology to sell tickets at AEG's venues and compete with Ticketmaster on future ticketing contracts.
Ticketmaster takes over Washington, DC-Baltimore area ticketing franchise
That chill you feel in the air may not only be due to the frigid winter, it could be coming from the Washington, DC/Baltimore region where a fight appears to be looming between Live Nation's Ticketmaster division and local concert impresario Seth Hurwitz.
This week, Live Nation announced it had bought out the last remaining separate Ticketmaster franchise, located in the Washington, DC/Baltimore area, from Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which is owned by Ted Leonsis, who also owns the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals.
Chicago promoter Jam Productions sues Ticketmaster over ticketing contract
Jam Productions, whose co-owner Jerry Mickelson has long been a critic of Live Nation and its Ticketmaster division, is suing the entities to be released from the ticketing contract Jam signed years before Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged.
Chicago-based Jam signed the ticketing deal with Ticketmaster in 2006, but the company claims it had an out in the contract should Ticketmaster join forces with another company that competed with Jam.
Barry Diller resigns as chairman of the board of Live Nation Entertainment
Barry Diller, one of the nation's most influential executives in media and entertainment, has resigned as chairman of the board of Live Nation, effective at the company's next board meeting, multiple news outlets are reporting today, September 29.
The surprising move comes after a rough summer for the company, which has seen both ticket sales and its stock price perform well below expectations. Diller reportedly made the announcement to board members during a meeting yesterday, but a date for the next board meeting has not been disclosed.
DOJ recommends Ticketmaster / Live Nation merger receive final approval
Having weighed written testimony from several industry professionals but ultimately deciding their arguments were unpersuasive, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) this week submitted its last report to the court recommending the merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation receive final approval.
The move was not entirely unexpected, considering the DOJ spent months negotiating a deal with the two companies in an attempt to make the merger more palatable to consumers, promoters, venues, artists, brokers and others who often fiercely complained of the partnership.
Department of Justice reportedly keeps the pressure on Live Nation Entertainment
In the months since the approval of the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger, officials with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have stayed in regular contact with several concert promoters and other music industry players as a way to continually monitor the effects of the deal.
Under the conditions of the merger agreement between the DOJ and the newly formed Live Nation Entertainment, the government agency would continue to study the combined company because Live Nation Entertainment is "forbidden from retaliating against any venue owner that chooses to use another company's ticketing services or another company's promotional services, including restrictions on anticompetitive bundling."
Axl Rose lawsuit highlights Ticketmaster / Live Nation merger concerns
A legal fight between Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose and Live Nation Entertainment Executive Chairman Irving Azoff escalated this week when Rose sued the powerful artist manager for alleged bullying tactics as part of a plan to try to manipulate Rose into touring again with the original members of his band.
Azoff sued Rose earlier in the year for alleged breach of contract over unpaid commissions for a recent Guns N' Roses tour, and Rose countersued this week bring up the specter of the Department of Justice consent decree that the federal agency negotiated with Ticketmaster and Live Nation when the two merged.
Subscribe to this feed
E-mail