Among the more bizarre yet thoroughly amusing moments from the 2024 campaign was the video footage of President Biden donning a “Trump 2024” hat at a fire station in Pennsylvania. With his name not on the ballot, Biden appeared affable and care-free, smiling from ear to ear as he basked in the approval of an audience consisting mostly of Trump voters. It seems Mr. Biden may have kicked-off a trend.
Live Nation, Ticketmaster’s parent company, held their third quarter earnings call in the days following Donald Trump’s election, and the company is figuratively donning their “MAGA” hats, publicly calling for the incoming administration to make their problems go away by dismissing the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against them.
Live Nation CFO Joe Berchtold said on the call the company is “hopeful” that the government changes course: “But absolutely we are hopeful that we’ll see a return to the more traditional antitrust approach where the agencies have generally tried to find ways to solve problems they see with targeted remedies, that minimize government intervention in the marketplace.”
Seeking to embrace the incoming administration, Live Nation appears more off-brand than Biden himself, given the company has spent the past eight years as a high-profile redoubt against all things Trump — promoting, echoing, and funding the anti-Trump “resistance” that has massive power within the entertainment industry. This power is at the heart of the DOJ’s antitrust suit, now that Live Nation has secured 80 percent of the primary ticketing market for live events across the country while dominating secondary sales to the tune of $4.5 billion. With ownership or control of over 265 of the top national venues, 380 musical artists under contract, and a hefty 60 percent market share of all concert promotions, the DOJ made a rare proper decision to take action.
In a transparent attempt to pose as allies of Trump 47, Live Nation is now changing its tune faster than the cast of Hamilton. Recall that only months into Trump’s first term in office, longtime Live Nation CEO and president Michael Rapino issued a memo declaring that he and the company were “fundamentally opposed” to Donald Trump’s immigration policy.
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