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\n\tA Department of Justice lawsuit against Live Nation for violating U.S. antitrust laws is imminent and could be filed as soon as Thursday (May 23), a source with knowledge of the DOJ\u2019s plans tells Billboard<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\tThe lawsuit is rumored to charge that Live Nation has a monopoly on event ticketing through Ticketmaster and that it illegally uses its monopoly power to grow its business and stifle competition. The DOJ has been investigating Live Nation for more than two years. With that investigation now wrapped, company president Joe Berchtold<\/strong> recently said he was that he was hopeful his company would avoid a legal showdown with the DOJ\u2019s top antitrust lawyer, Jonathan Kanter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThese are always serious discussions. We wouldn\u2019t get to this point if they didn\u2019t have concerns, but the good news is we\u2019re still talking and they\u2019ve said they have an open mind,\u201d Berchtold told attendees at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications conference in Boston on Tuesday (May 21).<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWithout getting into the real details of the conversation, I think it\u2019s fair to say I continue to believe that we fundamentally have business practices that are fully defensible,\u201d Berchtold added, before continuing: \u201cWe\u2019re also open to figuring out common ground in order to get this settled and moved on. But we don\u2019t know exactly what they want at this point still.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tLive Nation declined to comment for this story.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Department of Justice\u2019s case is believed to be centered around Ticketmaster\u2019s use of exclusive ticketing contracts<\/a> when signing up venues for its ticketing services. Typically, Ticketmaster pays venues an advance on the revenue that it generates from the fees it charges consumers as part of the ticket-buying process. The longer the contract, the larger the advance Ticketmaster can pay out.<\/p>\n \n\tDOJ officials don\u2019t like the practice, arguing that it locks out new companies from competing in the ticketing space. Ticketmaster officials, however, argue that they are open to working with non-exclusive contracts \u2014 both the Greek Theatre in Hollywood and Red Rocks in Denver are open facilities where promoters use the ticketing provider of their choice \u2014 but that venues often rely on exclusive deals to meet their capital needs.<\/p>\n \n\tWhile Ticketmaster holds more exclusive ticketing contracts than any other company, it isn\u2019t the only one to make use of them: Every major competitor pays upfront advances in exchange for exclusive ticketing agreements with venues and sports teams. <\/p>\n \n\tThat includes SeatGeek, which reportedly paid $10 million in 2021 for exclusive rights to ticket events at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for a seven-year term. Two years into the agreement, Billboard<\/em> reported<\/a> at the time, Barclays Center and BSE Global chief executive Sam Zussman<\/strong> threatened to publicize SeatGeek\u2019s tech problems and breaches of contract if it didn\u2019t immediately agree to terminate the deal.<\/p>\n \n\tSeatGeek eventually agreed to wind down its relationship with Barclays Center and was replaced by Ticketmaster. DOJ officials reportedly scrutinized the incident during its investigation of Live Nation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n