Bill > AR119

Introduced Session

This resolution urges Congress to respond to the consolidation of the ticket industry. In 2010, Live Nation Entertainment, the world's largest event promoter and venue operator, merged with Ticketmaster, the world's largest ticketing platform. This merger allowed both companies to become even more powerful, controlling an estimated 70 percent of the ticketing and live event venue markets. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the live entertainment industry, Live Nation reported that it put on more than 40,000 events around the world and sold 485 million tickets. The company also owns more than 300 venues around the world, the most in the industry. In the years since the merger with Ticketmaster, Live Nation has been accused multiple times of abusing its market dominance and bullying smaller competitors. In 2019, the United States Department of Justice alleged that Live Nation "repeatedly violated" the consent decree the company entered with the federal government at the time of the merger. These alleged violations include threatening to withhold tours from performing at competing venues if those venues did not sign deals with Ticketmaster. Live entertainment is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States, and New Jersey contributes to that with its dozens of venues hosting a wide variety of shows. However, Live Nation's practices and its dominance of the market make it so the majority of the profits do not go to performers or independent venue owners. These practices also harm consumers by making it difficult to purchase affordable tickets at initial sales, forcing them to pay inflated prices due to surge pricing or additional fees, or purchase tickets on resale markets that result in even higher prices.

AI Summary

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Shanique Speight (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee (on 02/19/2026)

Official Document