Ticketmaster Under Fire: How Big Is the Event Vendors Market Share?

?? Last week, the U.S. Senate Committee held a Judiciary hearing entitled “That’s the Ticket: Promoting Competition and Protecting Consumers in Live Entertainment”. For nearly three hours, senators harshly criticized @Live Nation's top executive, Joe Berchtold, regarding their treatment of Taylor Swift's tickets in November 2022 and dug into the ongoing claims that the company harasses its rivals in order to gain new business. This type of aggression would break the agreement set by the Justice Department during the Live Nation and Ticketmaster merger in 2010.

Live Nation Entertainment operates as a promoter, venue operator, and ticket vendor for concerts, theater shows, and other live events. It also provides artist management and marketing services to musicians and other performers. Ticketmaster , a subsidiary of Live Nation, is in turn one of the largest ticket vendors in the world. It has been accused of having a monopoly in the ticketing industry by controlling?a significant market share and limiting competition. This has led to concerns over high ticket prices, fees, and a lack of choice for consumers. Artists, and promoters have in turn complained about allegedly disadvantageous business practices, limiting the earning for both talent, promoters, and event operators, and stifling?competition. There have been several legal challenges to Ticketmaster's market dominance, and some countries have imposed regulations to increase competition in the ticketing industry. However, Ticketmaster continues to be a major player in the market, and its partnership with Live Nation has further consolidated its position.

This is also reflected in our most recent data: The latest Statista Consumer Insights update shows that 61% of of U.S. event ticket bookers have booked a tickets through Ticketmaster in the past 12 months. This is almost double the share of customers compared to 31% booking through StubHub, who is next in line amongst event bookers in the United States. Further runnerups Eventbrite and Event Tickets Center come in at 27% and 26%

This phenomenon and market dominance is also visible on a global scale, with over half of event bookers in Mexico,?Canada,?the United Kingdom,?Sweden,?and the Netherlands having booked through the Ticketmaster in the past 12 months. Competitors lose out and have to be satisfied?with a smaller share of the cake. Due to a combination of factors, critics warn about Ticketmaster's potential monopoly. These include its dominant market share, its exclusive contracts with venues and event organizers, and its ownership of key distribution channels. This in turn results in limited competition and a lack of choices for consumers, giving Ticketmaster significant bargaining power in the market.

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